A Christmassy CaptainSwan story I wrote to say thanks for all the support of my writing this past year. I hope you enjoy it :)

(FYI, I should add that my headcannon has a slight divergent to happenings in season 7 - my version is that whilst Henry did go to tour the realms and did meet Ella, he was only away for about a year and the pair of them returned to live in Storybrooke, where she is now his live in girlfriend. He is aged about 20 in this story.)


Chapter One

Emma wearily climbed the steps to their front porch and stomped her feet to knock off all the snow as she reached the doorstep. It looked as though Killian had managed to find some time to make an effort in shovelling the snow from the front walk and steps earlier in the day, but the snow currently falling had almost covered it all again.

The moment she opened the door, all the tension and fatigue left her shoulders after a long day at work. She was welcomed home to a blazing fire, the delicious aroma of dinner cooking, the cosy warmth of their home and two of her very favourite people in the world.

"Hey cygnet, look! Mummy's home!" Killian grinned as he scooped Hope up off the floor where he had been sat playing with her and the array of toys.

After hanging up her jacket, pulling her beanie off and shaking the snow off it and then toeing her boots off, Emma turned to give them both a big smile as they came to greet her at the door.

"Hello, love," Killian murmured, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey you," she returned, snatching her gloves off before reaching for Hope who was babbling excitedly and eagerly leaning towards her, making grabby hands. "Hey my little baby," she cooed as she took her into her arms and covered her in kisses. Hope giggled. She was totally a daddy's girl, but after spending an entire day with her father, the sight of her Mom and a new face was exciting. "Oh, I missed you, honey," Emma sighed, kissing the top of her head and breathing in her sweet baby smell.

Emma didn't have any huge regrets about her decision to go back to work when Hope was five months old, it was what she needed to do and she enjoyed the work. Although she missed his company at work, she was actually grateful that Killian had made the decision to leave his deputy sheriff role to be the stay at home parent, giving their child the best care possible. But none of that meant she didn't miss her sweet baby all day or spending time with her.

"What about me?" Killian pouted. "Didn't you miss me?"

Emma laughed and rolled her eyes. "Idiot," she said and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. "I always miss you."

"Hmm, that's better," he grinned at her. "Now, come get warm by the fire, love." With his hand on the small of her back, he guided Emma towards the sofa whilst she was trying to extract her hair from Hope's fist. "How's the case going? Caught the little thief yet?" he asked.

She sighed as she sank into the sofa and settled Hope on her lap, handing her her favourite stuffed toy, Mr Bunnykins, that immediately went into her mouth. "No, we've not caught The Grinch yet!"

Someone in town had taken it upon themselves to go around stealing people's Christmas ornaments and decorations from their yards and buildings. Emma had to hand it to them, whoever was taking them had some nerve because Granny had been absolutely furious when she found the Christmas trees, complete with lights and baubles, missing from the diners outdoor area. And Leroy had been positively fuming when his family of light up snowmen had disappeared from the yard outside the apartments he shared with his brothers.

"Don't worry love, you'll get them," he told her with that unwavering faith and belief he always had in her.

"Yeah, I hope so. I just wish we knew...Killian...where did those come from?" she asked, nodding towards their window alcove.

He looked towards the window where there now hung a set of twinkling snowflake lights. "Oh, well...Hope and I took a walk after we had lunch with you and popped into a couple of shops on our way. Her little eyes lit up when she saw them hung up in the window of that budget appliance shop near the post office. She cried when I tried to walk past and wouldn't stopped staring at them, so I had to go in and buy them." He shrugged a little sheepishly.

Emma sighed and tried to avoid the bunny that Hope was waving about that now had soggy ears from her chewing on them. "And that is why we have these sparkly silver stars hanging from the ceiling," she glanced up at them all. "And the singing Santa Claus." She scowled at it as she looked towards the fireplace where it stood on the mantelpiece.

"Yeah, I know," he said, scratching the back of his ear in his endearing awkward way. "But, she loves looking at them and she's...kinda hard to say no too."

"She's eight months old Killian! She's going to be a nightmare when she gets to two if you can't say no to her now. And we talked about this, we both agreed to keep Christmas fairly low key this year, that there was no point in going overboard because Hope doesn't understand any of it yet."

In the past few years that they had been married, although they had celebrated Christmas as a family with Henry and her parents and brother, they hadn't bothered with too many decorations. The tree in the front room and a wreath on the door had been about it. But over the last week or so, their front room had exploded into something that resembled a Santa's Grotto as more and more decorations and lights were added.

"Huh," Killian scoffed. "Says the woman who is responsible for the flashing pair of reindeers in our front yard and the lights that you persuaded your dad and I to put on the roof. Not to mention that infernal dancing Christmas tree." He glared at the said item that sat on the entertainment unit beside the TV. They both had a love hate relationship with the damn thing, because sometimes it was the only thing that would stop Hope crying, but the music it played was incredibly irritating.

"But she loved that, it made her giggle when I played it for her and...she has the cutest giggle. Don't you baby?" she asked Hope, holding her up under her armpits to stand on her lap.

"Ba Ga!" Hope responded, a wide, drooly grin on her face as she patted her mom's cheeks.

"See," she said, giving a pointed look to her husband.

"Face it, love, neither of us are able to resist our adorable little girl." He tickled Hope who squirmed and giggled.

"Then we are both doomed!" Emma groaned. "Just...no more decorations, okay? Our home will look like the North Pole soon!"

He smirked as he tugged her forward. "As you wish," he murmured before claiming her lips in a sweet, tender kiss. That was interrupted by the squawk of a baby and a yank on Killian's necklace. He winced as he untangled her little fingers from it whilst Emma chuckled.

"I don't think she likes you kissing me."

"Well, she's going to have to get used to it!" he grumbled. "Are you hungry?" he asked then.

"Starving. Whatever you're making smells delicious."

"I figured you'd be cold, so I put together a beef stew. I'd best go check on it and put the bread in the oven." He got to his feet, giving Hope's belly a playful poke.

"Want some help?" she asked, about to get up too.

"No, love. You stay and play with Hope. I know you miss being with her whilst you're at work all day." He kissed the top of both of their heads as he headed to the kitchen.

"Did Hope have her dinner?" she asked, putting the baby on the floor and sliding down beside her.

"Aye. She got rather whingy about an hour ago, so I fed her then," he called back.

Emma heaved a sigh and stroked Hope's back as the baby reached for her toys, feeling a little disappointed that she'd once again missed her baby's dinnertime. Although she liked being back at work, it had it's downfalls, like missing moments with her daughter. Hope had started to crawl a few days after Thanksgiving and even though Killian had caught most of it on his phone to show her, she was still a little sad she'd missed that.

"Okay baby girl, show me what tricks you learnt today," Emma spoke softly to her.

Hope grinned back at her and bashed two of the plastic cups from her stacking set together. Then one of them went in her mouth as she slammed the other onto the floor. Emma placed the next one on top and then Hope put another one on top of that.

"Clever girl," Emma smiled and clapped, before Hope knocked the three cups down with an excited shriek.

For awhile, they happily played with the cups, taking turns to stack them and then knock them down again. But as babies of her age tend to do, Hope soon lost interest in that and crawled away. In the last couple of weeks she had developed some speed on her and was keeping her parents on their toes.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked, crawling after her as she disappeared behind the sofa. Hope sat down rather heavily on her diaper clad bottom in front of the window, staring up at the snowflake lights. "You really do like them, huh?" Emma asked, picking her daughter up and taking her closer so she could see them better. Hope's smile grew and her huge blue eyes were everywhere as she watched them twinkle. Emma smiled and kissed her daughters head. "Fine, you win!" she called through to Killian.

"What was that love?" he asked, turning towards them with a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. Who knew that Captain Hook would not only be perfectly at home being a house husband, but that he would revel in it.

"I said you win. Buy her any decorations she likes. I love seeing her so happy and entranced with them," she sighed, hugging her baby close as she continued to watch the lights.

Killian chuckled to himself as he set the large pot of stew on the table and the crusty bread he'd just heated in the oven. "Dinner's ready!" he called.

Whilst they ate dinner and talked more about their respective days, Hope sat in her high chair beside them, happily chewing on small pieces of bread and slices of banana that she was squishing between her fingers more than eating them and all while banging her tray with a spoon.

"Want me to help you clean up?" Emma asked when they were finished. She was wiping Hope free from soggy bits of chewed up bread and mashed banana as he began to clear the table.

"I've got it, love. Why don't you go give our babe a bath and get her to bed? I know you like that time with her."

"I do," she agreed and unstrapped Hope from the high chair and swung her into her arms. "You ready for bath time little one?" she asked her, nuzzling her face with her nose as Hope giggled and squealed, pulling at her mom's hair.

"I'll put a bottle on to warm for her," Killian said.

"Thanks, babe," she threw over her shoulder as the pair of them climbed the stairs.

Soon enough Hope was freshly bathed and nestled in her mother's arms in the rocking chair in her nursery. Emma was humming to her as she held her close, rocking them both and giving the baby her final bottle of the day. She loved this quiet time at night, when it was just the two of them and Hope was all sleepy as she snuggled into her. She hadn't even minded all the night feeds so much when she was smaller, it gave the two of them a chance to bond, to spend those special moments together and for Emma to just enjoy her baby.

With a soft kiss to her head and a whispered 'goodnight baby', Emma eventually placed the sleepy baby in her crib, bundled up in her sleeping bag to keep her cosy all night. After switching on the night light for her and the baby monitor, Emma headed back downstairs where she found Killian on his knees, tidying up the toys and other paraphernalia strewn around the room.

Leaning against the wall, Emma folded her arms and just quietly watched him for a few moments, wondering when the hell she had gotten so lucky and what she'd done to deserve him. Many times Killian had proved himself to be a wonderful husband and lover, so it came as no surprise to her that he was also a wonderful father. She knew that some people still considered it rather unconventional that the daughter of Snow White would marry a Pirate Captain, but she also knew she had made the best decision in her life when she said yes to him.

Every day he took good care of their daughter who was always clean and happy when Emma got home. But he also found time to keep the house tidy, although bigger chores were done between them at the weekends, do some laundry and often had dinner cooked for them upon her arrival home. And today he had even managed to string some more lights and shovel the snow. Emma felt truly blessed and content with her lot these days.

"Hey." He turned his head and smiled, finally sensing she was there. "Did she go to sleep okay?" he asked, tossing the final toys into the basket.

Emma nodded. "She was almost out before she finished her bottle. You must wear her out all day," she said with a soft smile.

Killian chuckled and reached for the blanket on the floor to fold it up and put it away. "I think you have that the wrong way around, love. She wears me out!" he playfully grumbled.

Suddenly Emma joined him on the floor, kneeling before him as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. The kiss was loving, tender, with just a hint of heat as her fingers slid to the back of his head and his arms wrapped around her, eagerly returning the kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked when they parted.

"Because you're amazing and I love you," she replied, stroking her thumb against the scar on his cheek.

He arched one eyebrow high on his head, still a little bemused. "And I love you too," he said softly, resting his forehead against hers and giving her a full smile. "So," he began, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before he got to his feet, "are you ready for hot cocoa now?" he asked, offering her his hand to help her up.

"I'll make it," Emma told him. "You take a seat. And find us something Christmassy to watch," she added, handing him the TV remote before heading to the kitchen.

With empty mugs of cocoa on the coffee table in front of them and a half eaten packet of cookies, Emma and Killian were snuggled up together on the sofa in front of the roaring fire. In their cosy front room, lit only with the Christmas lights and the glow from the TV from the movie they were watching, it felt as though they were sheltered away from the rest of the world, where nothing could bother them.

Emma lay with her head in Killian's lap, his hand in her hair, fingertips massaging her scalp in that expert way of his that always threatened to lull her to sleep.

"Why are all these Hallmark Christmas movies the same?" Emma suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Killian frowned down at her, his hand stalling in her hair.

Emma rolled onto her back, looking up at him. "These movies," she started again, "they nearly always have a woman in them who has some high power job in a big city, then she goes back to her home town for the holidays, is also often a single mother or has some sob story. She'll meet some past love or inherit some old building and eventually decide to give up life in the city and stay in some small town and it will all end happily ever after."

"Aye?" he asked, not following her meaning.

"I'm just saying," she shrugged.

"Perhaps the high paying job and the big city are not making the woman happy. Maybe finding love and being in a small town does and it's not so much of a sacrifice to give up the big job and the city?" he suggested.

"I suppose," Emma sighed, turning her head to watch the movie again.

"Didn't you give that up for love and happiness?" he asked her.

Emma smiled and looked up at him again. "I did and I have not one regret about that."

"Good." He lowered his head and kissed her.

"Although that still doesn't explain why all these movies have the same plot?"

"I can find something else to watch? Or switch it off entirely?" Killian suggested, picking up the remote.

"No!" She snatched the remote from his hand. "I want to know what happens now!"

Killian laughed. "I thought you just said they were all the same, so surely you know what's going to happen?"

"Shush! Just let me watch the damn movie!"

He gave a slow shake of his head. "You're impossible, love."

"And you love me for it." She smiled up at him.

"That I do," he agreed and returned her smile as he began to rub her head again,

"Now, shush!" she demanded, attention back on the TV.

By the time the movie ended, as predicatively as Emma said it would, they were both yawning and decided to head up to bed for an early night. Although it was some time before they actually settled down to sleep.


The final days leading up to Christmas were busy for anyone that celebrated the holiday, and even more so for those with young children. But for Emma, she was especially busy, torn between wanting to spend as much time with her family as she could and being determined to catch the damn thief in town who was making everyone's Christmas miserable.

Whoever it was had struck again, stealing strings of lights from down at the harbour. And then taking the Nativity scene from in front of the chapel. But the worst crime, that really sickened Emma, was that they had also stolen all the gifts from the Toy Drive that the Nuns had organised, collecting gifts and toys for those children in town who came from less privileged families that maybe couldn't afford much.

She was really upset about it, knowing what it was to have nothing as a young child and how receiving a small gift on Christmas day from a kind stranger had cheered her a little. Killian and Emma, both knowing what it was to struggle as a youngster, had themselves donated a dozen or so items to the cause and it saddened her that they now wouldn't be reaching the intended recipients or making their day a little brighter.

And whilst Emma and Killian were both perfectly aware that they tended to spoil Hope a little, especially at this time of year, they also intended to raise her to understand just how lucky she was. She has two loving parents to raise her, a family who cared about her and she would never have to want for anything. They hoped she would learn to be generous and kind to those who didn't.

The day after the Christmas gifts robbery, Emma was working late, absolutely relentless about wanting to solve this crime as quickly as possible in the hopes of at least restoring the magic of Christmas to the children in town. Killian was upstairs, lying across their bed and reading a book when she got home.

"Hey," she sighed and took her badge off her belt, setting it on top of the dresser.

"Hello, love." He smiled and closed his book, setting it aside as he sat up.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," she added, sitting down rather wearily on the bottom of the bed.

"Don't worry about it, I know you're busy dealing with this case right now."

Emma nodded silently and then looked up at him, biting her rather wobbly bottom lip.

"Are you all right?" he asked, eyeing her closely.

Emma sighed, ready to lie to him simply because she didn't want to burden him. But, then thought better of it as she shook her head. "No, I'm not," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Oh, Emma." He was by her side in a second, holding her close. "You're freezing, love!" he gasped and rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"The heating went off at the station," she mumbled into his chest. "I only realised when I started shivering and that was when I finally decided to give up for the night." She raised her head and he tenderly wiped her tears away with the back of his hand.

"Is it just this case, or is something else bothering you?" he wondered.

She heaved a huge sigh and fell back into his arms. "I just feel like I'm not getting anywhere with it and I'm letting everyone down. I've been going through old case files all day, hoping to find a pattern or that something like this has happened before, but there's nothing. So I started looking through the town's census records, scrutinising every person in this town for someone who might have a motive for this, but...I have no leads or anything."

"You'll get them, I know you will." He offered her a soft smile, his unfaltering faith in her evident.

"Really? Because right now it all feels hopeless! I haven't a clue what to do or try next. I can't even stake them out without knowing where they're going to strike next and that could be anywhere in town. Do you know that whoever it is also stole Doc's Santa costume today? He was going to surprise the kids at the Town Hall Christmas party and now he can't. And then I just keep thinking about all those kids and the look of disappointment on their faces when they get nothing for Christmas and they think Santa doesn't care!" She let out her rant in one long breath of air.

"Okay okay," he rubbed her back again, trying to calm her. "We can always buy more gifts to donate," he suggested.

"That's not the point! Besides, not everyone can afford to buy things again after they already donated. What kind of heartless bastard steals from little kids? So much for this being the season of good will!" She huffed.

"I don't know, love. It's bad form indeed. I'm afraid some people are just complete callous gits. But, Swan, you have to remember that you're not responsible for making sure everyone in town has a good Christmas."

"Well, others seem to think so. I hear them moaning about how I'm not doing my job because things are still happening. They seem to think that since I am the saviour, I'm supposed to help make everyone happy. And then I-"

"Ignore what those bloody fools say!" he interrupted her, rather indignantly.

She waved it off. "Oh, I don't care what the gossips of this town have to say. The worst part of all this all is how I feel so guilty because in trying to save everyone else' Christmas, I am ruining yours and Hope's first one."

"What? You are not ruining a damn thing!" He pushed her away a little harshly, giving her a look loaded with disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"But I am. The holidays are a time for families and I'm hardly home right now to spend this time with you both. I barely even saw our daughter today and when I did, she was asleep. I'll be surprised if she still knows who I am!" She gave one humourless laugh and then sniffed again.

"Hey, now stop that." He held her at arms length. "That's bullshit and you know it! Hope loves you and I know how much you love her. She knows that and she's lucky to have you as her mother."

"She'd be luckier if she had a mother who was actually around more!"

"Hope has an amazing mother who is an incredible role model. A working mum who is a bad ass, catching the bad guys and making this world a better and safer place for her."

"Except right now I'm not doing that, am I?" she wailed. "I can't even catch a damn thief!"

"Listen, love," he sighed. "You know that you and I do things best together, so if you need a bit more help with this, even just to look through all the files so you can get on with other things, I can come in. I'm sure your parents or Henry would be glad to have Hope for a few hours."

"No." She shook her head slowly. "I like knowing that at least one of her parents are with her. Besides, one of the deputies, who, by the way, is far less attractive and distracting than my last one. He..."

"I do hope you are referring to me and not your dad!" He grinned impishly.

"Eurgh! Of course I mean you. Idiot!" She swatted his upper arm as he chuckled. "Anyway, he said he'll come in early tomorrow to go through what I didn't get to today."

"Well, the offer still stands, anything you need. And I know you'll solve this because I still have yet to see you fail! But, right now I think you need some sleep. You were called out early this morning and then Hope had us up a couple of times in the night," he spoke to her gently, calmingly.

"I know," she heaved another sigh and nodded in agreement.

"Good. So you go and take a hot shower to warm up and I'll go make you some cocoa and something to eat because I know you've probably not eaten either." He kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." She smiled up at him.

"Of course, love." He smiled back.

"When did I last tell you that I love you?" she asked, dipping her head to the side.

He considered her question for a single moment. "This morning, before you had to leave early for work."

Her eyes widened. "Well, that's like an entire day too long. I love you."

He gave a little snort of laughter. "I love you, too," he kissed her gently and then stood from the bed. "Now, go shower!" he told her.

"I will," she got up and pulled her sweater over her head, tossing it into the laundry hamper. "I just want to go check on Hope first."

"She's fine, fast asleep. I put her to bed a few hours ago." He said, stroking her now bare arm that was still cold.

"I know. I just...I want to see her," she answered quietly.

Killian smiled then and nodded, completely understanding. Anyone who assumed that Emma lacked maternal feelings and that it was easy for her to return to work and leave her baby at home couldn't be more wrong. They had no idea how much she missed her baby every day or how hard it was for her to tear herself away from her most mornings.

As Killian headed downstairs to make her some food, Emma headed across the hall to Hope's nursery. She didn't know what she'd do these days without him to talk her down when she unravelled like that. It had taken them both some time to learn to share their burdens and confide in each other, but they told each other everything now, knowing it was the best option in the long run. And he was still the only person she really let herself be truly vulnerable with and break down around. Somehow he always knew the right comforting words to say to calm her and make her feel better about anything.

Hope was fast asleep in her crib, perfectly content with her arms flung above her head in the usual carefree way that she slept. She looked so angelic asleep, snuggled in her pink, swan printed baby sleeping bag. Her little chest rose and fell with each breath, her rose bud lips slightly parted and her eyes twitched as she dreamt. Emma just stood and watched her sleeping for some time before she leant over the crib and softly stroked the thin blonde hair on her daughter's head. "Hey my sweet baby," she whispered softly. "Mommy missed you so much today. And I know you're not really going to remember your first Christmas at all, but I will, and I promise to make it the best I can." She made a vow to her daughter.


Three days before Christmas and Emma was still trying to solve this case. Although it was still frustrating her, she wasn't allowing it to upset her anymore. Killian had finally convinced her that whilst, yes, she was responsible as Sheriff to do everything she could to catch them and put a stop to it, she was not responsible for ensuring the entire town had a good Christmas. Residents might be miffed that their items had been stolen, but they would survive without their flashing Santa's or multiple Christmas tree's or a string of lights.

As for the stolen toys, a few had been replaced with new donations, but it was going to take some kind of Christmas miracle to ensure that every child the Nun's had a list of would receive something on Christmas day.

Emma hurried towards the diner, aware that she was once again running late for her lunch date with her husband and daughter. When this was all over, she decided, once the thief was caught and the holidays were out of the way, she and Killian deserved a proper date. A night out for a relaxed, quiet dinner together and perhaps followed by a romantic moonlight stroll – it had been awhile.

Snatching open the door, Emma saw him before he saw her, sat at their usual booth with Hope perched on the table as he removed her adorable teddy bear snow suit. Looking up as he heard the bell jangle on the door, he gave her a smile and shuffled the baby slightly as he pushed something under the table with his hook.

"Hey," she leant over the table and greeted him with a soft peck to his lips. "Sorry, I was just heading out the door and then the phone rang," she apologised for being late as she stole the baby from him. Sitting down opposite him she hugged their daughter, their cheeks squished together as Hope made a grab for her Mom's earring. Emma grabbed her hand and kissed her little fingers.

"Don't worry about it. We only just got here ourselves. Someone decided to soil her diaper as we were ready to leave," he explained as he fiddled with something under the table again.

"Did you do a stinky for Daddy?" Emma asked, turning the baby to face her. "Good girl"" she grinned and kissed her chubby cheek.

"Hey!" Killian feigned hurt.

Emma chuckled and proceeded to finish getting the baby's snowsuit off of her. She couldn't understand how Killian managed to get the damn thing on her with only one hand, she struggled with two, but she liked knowing her daughter was cosy in the cold Maine winter. "So, what's in the bag?" Emma asked him nonchalantly.

"Bag? What bag?" he asked, eyebrows arched high on his forehead.

"The one you're trying to hide under the table," Emma side-eyed him as she shoved the snowsuit on the seat beside her. If he thought he was fooling her, he was a fool himself.

"Any news on my tree's?" Granny asked, abruptly interrupting their conversation as she pushed over a high chair.

"Thanks. And no, there's nothing yet I'm afraid."

Granny frowned and huffed.

"Emma is doing everything she can!" Killian defended his wife.

"Yes, well. Not helping my décor, is it?" she asked, waving to the one lone tree she now had in the diner, that Emma noticed was chained to the wall! "What can I get you?"

"The usual for me," Emma requested whilst settling Hope into the high chair.

"I might just give the lunch special a try," Killian replied as Granny scribbled their order down.

"And for this precious little lady?" she asked, her demeanour softening as she stroked Hope's cheek.

"She would appreciate it if you could warm these up for her," Killian said, pulling a bottle and a jar of food from the diaper bag,

Granny nodded, pocketed her notepad and pen and grabbed the bottle and jar to take with her.

"Thanks!" he called after her retreating form.

With him distracted for a moment, finding a toy to entertain Hope with, Emma made a grab for the bags she knew he was hiding under the table.

"Hey!" he protested a little too late as Hope happily began bashing her plastic set of keys against the tray of the high chair. "What if there was something for you in there?" he asked as she began rummaging through the plastic bag.

"You bought my gift ages ago," she looked up at him. "I've seen it."

"You've seen it?" he asked sadly, looking totally disappointed.

She looked up at him again and reached across the table for his hand. "I haven't been snooping, I promise. I just saw the wrapped gifts that you think you have hidden in your drawer. I saw a couple with my name on, that's all."

"Oh. Then what if I had bought you something else?" he asked. Killian actually loved having the excuse of Christmas to buy her gifts and spoil her, because she was a nightmare to treat otherwise - always claiming that she didn't need anything.

"Killian!" Emma gasped, ignoring his question. "Have you seriously been buying more things for Hope?" she asked, finding the bag stuffed with yet more toys and baby items.

He shrugged and tried to look completely nonchalant about it as he rested his arm along the back of the booth. "So?" he asked.

"Hmm, late getting here because you had to change Hope, or because you were shopping again?" she asked.

Killian shrugged, but had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Both?"

Emma smiled at his expression. "Babe, she already has a ton of gifts. She's not even going to understand this or be able to unwrap them herself or anything. And at her age, she's probably going to be more interested in the paper and boxes that the things come in, anyway. Not to mention that half of these are too old for her," she pointed out as she noted the 12 Months + age on some of the toys, shaking her head exasperatedly. She loved that her husband was generous and wanted to spoil the people he loved, but this was a little over the top.

"Well, someone said on that Mom's blog that it's good to give them things that are a few months above their age range. It encourages the development of new skills and she can grow into them, rather than her outgrowing them in a few weeks."

Emma groaned and rolled her eyes as she put the bag back. "That damn Mom blog again!" she hissed. He had become a little obsessed with reading the blog he'd found online just recently, taking all the advice from other mom's as pure gospel. "I am totally going to change our wifi password and not tell you!" she threatened.

"Now, that's just bad form, love!" He took offence at her threat.

"Besides, babies don't outgrow toys that quick. She's had those since birth," she nodded to the keys that Hope was still crashing and chewing alternately, "and she still loves them as much. I thought we had agreed to keep things low key this year? I already gave in about the extra decorations, but she really doesn't need so many gifts."

"Hmm," he arched one eyebrow. "If that's true, then why is there another bag of wrapped gifts all addressed to Hope that I found shoved in the back of our closet this morning?" he asked.

"I well...I, erm..." she stammered, trying to find some excuse.

"Here we go," Granny returned, placing the cocoa in front of Emma, a cup of coffee for Killian and the warmed baby bottle and jar of food. "Food will be out shortly," she added.

"Thanks Granny," she smiled, grateful for the interruption. Reaching across the table, she grabbed the diaper bag and searched for a bib and spoon to feed Hope with.

"Emma?" Killian asked, rather amused, knowing he had her.

"I haven't a clue what bag you're on about," she lied, avoiding eye contact with him as she placed a bib on the baby and began stirring her food.

Killian laughed. "You now very well, love."

"I, well...maybe my Mom dropped some things off, or Henry?" she suggested lamely and offered Hope a spoonful of mushed chicken and vegetables.

He nodded. "Aye, I suspect they often drop things off in our bedroom closet!"

Emma sighed and spooned some more food up. "All right, you got me," she gave in. "I'm as bad as you at buying her more things. But...I've never done this before either. Henry was about grown out of toys by the time he came back into my life, I didn't get to buy him loads of fun Christmas gifts or anything. And, I suppose I want Hope to have everything I never did."

"I get it, love. You know I do. It's new and exciting. I've celebrated Christmas a number of times since arriving in this realm, but there is certainly something much more exciting about it when you have a young child to share it with."

"Yes," she agreed, relived he understood. Was there really any doubt that he would? He always understood her, sometimes he was the only one that did. "But, even still...I think we have far too many things for her between us, we've both got carried away."

"Aye," he agreed, reaching into the diaper bag and finding a cloth to wipe Hope's face with. "So, what do we do?" he asked, passing it to her.

"Maybe we should go through everything together and each choose five or six presents for her and then donate the rest?" she suggested.

He nodded and picked his coffee mug up. "That sounds sensible," he agreed.

Emma gave him a smile before continuing to feed Hope who shrieked when her lunch wasn't coming quick enough. "And next year perhaps we go shopping for her gifts together?"

Granny was back then, with plates of food for them both. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked.

"Nope, we're good, thanks."

"More than good," Killian grinned and gave his wife a wink.

Granny shook her head and rolled her eyes as she moved away. That damn couple never got any better!


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