Chapter Three

After a fun filled day with barely any naps, Hope slept in on Christmas day. Much to the dismay of her mother who had been awake since seven am, itching for her daughter to wake and begin her first Christmas. Emma had already been to check on her twice and had been almost tempted to wake her, but knew that wasn't fair and that Hope would most likely be grumpy if she was woken.

Instead, Killian nipped downstairs and brought them both a coffee to drink in bed, where they shared a peaceful, relaxed morning, just cuddling together and chatting. Killian was a little reluctant to go any further than a cuddle and gentle kisses right now, anticipating the interruption of their daughter at any moment. He was discovering that being a parent to a young child certainly stifled your sex life! But, knowing the rest of the day was likely to be hectic, they actually enjoyed these quiet moments alone.


"Merry Christmas!" Henry called as he walked into the house at just after 10 that morning, his arms full of presents.

"Henry! Thank God!" Emma sighed as she got up off the floor in the living room and picked up Hope.

"What? Am I late or something?" he asked, checking his watch with a frown on his face.

"No, perfectly on time, lad," Killian appeared from the kitchen.

"Then, what..." Henry looked from his Mom to his step-father.

Emma laughed. "I meant thank you for saving me. I've been trying to keep Hope away from the gifts under the tree, she wants to crawl over them all and rip the paper. The only thing that would distract her was that damn dancing Christmas Tree and the singing Santa!" she rolled her eyes. "Your sister has been driving me insane!"

Henry laughed. "Well, you two did buy her the stupid things!" He was amused as he moved into the house further to put his gifts down on the kitchen table. Hugs were exchanged then between them all, as Hope reached out for her big brother. "Hey squirt!" he tickled her as he took her into his arms. "You've grown!"

"You just saw her two days ago!" Emma commented as she hugged Ella. "Glad you could make it," she smiled at her son's girlfriend.

"Still think she's grown," Henry insisted.

"I hope not!" Killian said. "We don't want her growing up too quickly."

"Anyway, come in, make yourselves at home," Emma said, leading them into the living room.

"Something smells delicious!" Ella commented politely as they took her coat off.

"Brunch will be ready shortly," Killian smiled, taking the baby from Henry so he could get his coat off and headed back to the kitchen. He strapped Hope into her high-chair and gave her a couple of chopped up grapes to keep her happy.

"So, how were things at Regina's?" Emma wondered.

Henry sighed as he shared a look with Ella and took a seat on the sofa. Emma was on the floor putting away Hope's toys and returning the animatronic tree and Santa to their places. "Well, Mom and Zelena got into a dumb argument during dessert last night about nothing and they both stormed off to their rooms. And then Robin threw a huge tantrum this morning because Zelena didn't get her the exact LOL doll she wanted."

"What the hell is an LOL doll?" Emma asked, out of the loop with current popular culture.

"You'll find out when Hope wants them!" Henry laughed. "If they're still trendy by then. Anyway, I'm not sure who's behaviour was more childish because they all behaved like spoilt children," he finished with a wry chuckle as Emma agreed.

They sat and chatted for a bit longer, Henry telling his Mom more of his Christmas eve with his adoptive mother and Emma telling him about their Christmas Eve. She still missed having her son at home, even though he, thankfully, wasn't far away these days – he and Ella now lived in the old loft since his return from touring the realms.

Killian was busy in the kitchen, preparing brunch for them all. "Everything okay in there?" Emma asked when she heard the clang of a saucepan.

"Fine!" he replied.

"Do you need any help?" she asked, feeling guilty that he was doing all the work.

"No. Hope and I just have the pancakes to make and then we're ready."

"You're sure?" she asked.

"Aye!" he returned.

"When do we get to open presents?" Henry asked, eyeing his bulging stocking hanging up.

"Henry!" Ella gasped and nudged him with her elbow.

"After we've eaten, kid!" Emma smiled indulgently, secretly pleased that her son was still a kid at heart.

Henry huffed and pretended to sulk as Ella giggled at him.

After a few more minutes, Killian called them through to eat. He had cooked up a feast – bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes and pancakes. As well as toast, coffee and juice for everyone. They chatted amiably as they ate whilst Hope entertained them all with her antics of throwing pieces of pancakes onto the floor or banging her spoon on the tray of her high chair and screeching loudly.

"By the way, I meant to ask. What is that hump in the front yard?" Henry asked as they were all finishing up with brunch.

"A hump?" Emma frowned and looked to Killian.

"Yeah, there's like a little stump of snow. I was thinking…"

"That is the snowman Killian and I built yesterday!" Emma exclaimed, slightly offended. She knew it wasn't the best, but it was more than a hump!

"Well, that's a bit useless, isn't it?" Henry laughed.

"Hey!" Killian frowned.

"Well, we were trying to be quick so Hope didn't get cold. But I am sure she'd appreciate her big brother building her a better one. She likes to look at it."

"Fine, I'll see if there's time after we've done presents and I'll show you how to build a proper snow man. Now, speaking of presents, is it time to open them now?" He asked, after downing his last mouthful of juice.

Emma laughed. It seemed her little boy would never truly grow up. "Sure," she got up to wipe Hope down from sticky pieces of pancake and squashed fruit. "Take your sister to the living room with you and we'll join you shortly. I just want to clean up real quick."

Henry nodded and turned to Ella, telling her to go find a seat in the living room. He unstrapped Hope from her high chair as Emma and Killian began to clean up.

"And no starting until we get there!" she added and then chuckled when she heard Henry groan.

Killian was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher whilst Emma cleaned up Hope's mess from the floor and wiped her tray down. Turning to the sink to rinse out her cloth, Killian surprised her, as he pulled her in close and caught her lips in a tender, loving kiss.

"Having a good day so far?" he asked her softly, his forehead still pressed against hers.

"Perfect." She smiled, her hand coming up to brush against his chest. "And just so you know," she whispered, "tonight, I fully intend to unwrap you."

Killian arched one eyebrow high on his forehead and a smirk graced his lips before he leant in to kiss her again.

"Eurgh! You two are so revolting!" Henry grumbled, having overheard them as he returned to the kitchen to find a toy that Hope had left behind and was fussing for.

Emma blushed slightly and giggled as she buried her face against Killian's chest, who grinned quite proudly.

"You have a baby right over there!" he pointed into the living room where Ella sat with her. "Grow up!" he told them, indignantly.

"And just how do you think that baby was made, kid?" Emma laughed at the look on his face, before snatching up a towel to dry her hands and led Killian by the hand into the living room to begin exchanging gifts.

Hope loved the wrapping paper and was having a whale of a time with it – scrunching it up, waving it in the air and eating pieces if anyone took their eyes off her for a second! She wasn't showing much interest in the items the paper had wrapped though and Emma could tell that Killian was rather disappointed that she didn't seem to like any of the gifts he'd bought his daughter. But, she understood that Hope was just too excitable right now and rather overwhelmed. Tomorrow, when things were calmer and they gave her one new toy at a time, hopefully she would show much more interest.

Hope was a lucky girl and had been inundated with gifts from Storybrooke's townsfolk. Granny had knitted her a little reindeer and August had gifted her with a pile of books. There was a pure silver rattle from Regina that Emma had no idea what she was supposed to do with – it was hardly practical! And then there were gifts from Ashley and Thomas, the dwarves, the fairies, Tink and Ariel. There were far too many for her to open and her parents barely knew what to do with it all, especially as they knew there would be even more later from her Grandparents.

Emma's first gift from Killian was an oversized, soft cable knit cardigan. "I thought it would be nice for you to change into when you got in from work and you could be cosy," he explained as she giggled to herself.

"I'm not laughing at your gift," she promised him. "I love it and it will be perfect to wear in the evenings. But...just open this one," she said finding one of her gifts to him from under the tree and passed it to him.

Killian gave her a sceptical look, but tore into his gift all the same. Inside was a black cable knit sweater. "I suppose great minds think alike," he laughed.

"I'm tired of you complaining you're cold. You need to dress more appropriately for the weather and it's about time you owned some sweaters." she smiled and shared a brief kiss with him.

More gifts were passed around. Emma had also bought him a leather bound journal adorned with anchors and compass' - something he could write his Captain's logs in or anything else he wished to write down. There was a rather expensive bottle of rum and a set of his and her keyrings that read 'Her Captain' and 'His First Mate', which she'd found too cute to be able to resist and a silly gift of a mug that read 'this is what an awesome Captain looks like', which made him laugh.

Her last gift to him was a pendant on a chain of a gold compass. "It reminded me of our first adventure together, when we first met," she told him as he gazed at it, hoping that he liked it.

"Thank you, love," he looked up at her and leant in to kiss her. They missed the face that Henry pulled. "It's perfect. And now, perhaps you should open this one," he found one of her gifts – a small box – from under the tree.

Emma grinned as she tore off the paper and opened the box. It was a silver necklace with a silver pendant of a pair of baby feet inside of a heart. Along the heart Hope's name was engraved in elegant scroll font and at the bottom sat her birth stone. Emma looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful!" she told him. "And it's perfect and so personal and...I can't believe we bought each other necklaces as well as sweaters!" she laughed through her tears of joy.

"Well, you two have always been in sync. You're like two peas in a pod or something!" Henry laughed and then he groaned when he saw Emma smile at Killian as he took her in his arms and gave her a slightly longer kiss than the previous ones. "Okay, seriously?" Henry asked. "Can we stop with all the PDA, it's gross!"

"Henry!" Ella swatted him with her hand. "Leave them alone, it's sweet."

"Not when it's my mother!" he grumbled.

Emma and Killian were completely oblivious to anyone else in the room for a moment or two, until Hope shrieked loudly and scooped up handfuls of torn wrapping paper. They both turned to look at their little girl and chuckled at her as Emma pulled her onto her lap and kissed her chubby little cheeks.

"Thanks sis'!" Henry whispered, leaning over to give the eight month old a high five.

Emma also received from Killian a rather fancy hot chocolate maker that was called a Velvetiser, which she couldn't wait to try it out. A thick blanket for nights curled up on the sofa together. Some new boots that she'd asked for. A bunch of handmade coupons for date nights and other things she was not about to share with her present company, thanks very much! Emma felt herself flushing as she put the coupons away and busied herself with Hope for a moment. And then a joke mug, because of course they were going to buy each other more similar things, that read 'Being my wife is really the only gift you need. Love you." Emma gave him a rather disgruntled look over that, but laughed all the same. She knew he was just teasing her.

They all spent a good hour or two exchanging gifts and unwrapping them and making a huge mess in the living room. One of Henry's gift to Hope had been a smaller replica of his story book. "This is so beautiful, Henry." Emma said in awe as she flicked through it. It was almost exactly the same as the original. "She'll treasure this when she's older."

He shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I just figured my baby sister should know the stories of her family. You can read them to her until she's old enough to read it herself."

"Thank you," Emma closed the book and hugged it to her chest. "We'll read it to her often and I know she's going to love it." She passed the book to Killian to look at and she could tell he was impressed.

Hope was getting rather cranky by the time they were all done and each had a pile of opened gifts beside them. Killian and Henry had already started cleaning up all the torn wrapping paper. "I think I'll go put this little lady down for a nap." Emma stood with Hope in her arms. "She should wake then just before we're due to head over to my parents."

Killian nodded, gave Hope a quick kiss and then disappeared out the back door with a bag full of trash as Emma took the baby upstairs.

"So," Henry jumped up from the sofa as soon as Emma returned, "whilst Hope naps, shall we go outside and sort out that rather pathetic excuse for a snowman that the pair of you failed at!" he grinned cheekily.

"I beg your pardon?" Emma asked a little resentfully.

"Only stating the truth," he smirked and went to find his coat and scarf.

Emma shared a rather aghast look with Killian who merely shrugged. "He has a point, love."

"Fine," she huffed and went to find her own coat, with Killian hot on her heals.

"If you like," Ella joined them, "I can stay inside and listen out for the baby?" she offered.

"That would be great. Thank you."

"Ha!" Henry laughed, "she's only saying that because she hates the snow!"

Ella pulled a face at him.

"Well, either way, it's still nice of you. She shouldn't wake, but if she does, give me a shout." Emma told her before following her boys outside.

"Right," Henry was already getting down to business, eyeing the yard for the most snow as he pulled his gloves on. "I suppose we can use your poor effort as the base. Then we need to roll it in the snow to make it bigger," he explained as he pulled out the snowman's carrot nose and pebble eyes. He began to roll it around in the deep snow then and it soon became five times the size of the original one they made. "You two can make a start on the middle and the head part," he instructed them as he began to pack snow around his huge ball and started shaping it.

"Certainly, boss!" Emma mocked him and began to pack together a large snowball. Killian needed some help with his, having one hand and a hook made it difficult to pack the snow together. They both began to roll it around the yard then, following Henry's instructions.

"When did he get so bossy?" Killian hissed at her.

She laughed. "What do you mean? He always has been!"

"Less chatting, more rolling!" Henry told them when he looked up for a moment. "I'll be ready to add the middle soon."

Killian looked at Emma and rolled his eyes as she giggled. "Your nose is all red," he said, poking it with his gloved fingers.

"So is yours!" Emma told him and tilted towards him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Kissing your nose to warm it up," she smiled sweetly and placed a soft kiss on the tip of his nose.

"You're cheeks are all pink too," he whispered when she pulled back and he kissed both of her cheeks. "And I'm pretty sure my lips are cold, really cold," he smirked.

"And what do you want me to do about that?" Emma asked.

"Well, your lips felt nice and warm, so..."

"You just want me to kiss you," she said, trying to raise an eyebrow the way he did and failing. She giggled loudly then as he took her in his arms and thoroughly kissed her. Instantly she was toasty warm, from the tips of her toes to the tops of her ears as she curled her hands around him, both of them bulky in winter jackets as his warm lips moved expertly with hers.

"Where's that middle?" Henry asked then. "I'm ready for it now, so...oh for heavens sake!" he exclaimed loudly when he turned and found his Mother and Step-father entwined in yet another kiss. "Oi! Put each other down!" he called.

They broke apart sharply, rather startled by the sudden interruption. Emma took a step back, lost her footing and slipped, falling on her back in the snow. For a moment she was rather shocked as she lay there in the cold, wet snow, but then she laughed at herself as Killian joined in once he knew she was okay. He offered her his hand to help her up. Instead she yanked on his hand so that he lost his balance and pulled him down on top of her in the snow, giggling and grinning widely.

"You meant to do that!" he said, once he got over the surprise.

"Perhaps," she winked as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked.

"I was hoping you could warm me up," she whispered and tilted her head towards him, tugging him down to meet his lips in a searing kiss. She had no idea why she was feeling so affectionate today, even though the pair of them often were in their own home, but she wasn't going to complain about it. Maybe it was the emotions of the season, the magic of the day or just because she was aware how loved she was by her husband.

"Seriously?" Henry turned around and caught them. "I give up! You two are worse than teenagers," he complained and carried on building the snowman for his baby sister by himself.

Emma and Killian broke apart and chuckled together before they finally got to their feet. A short time later and Henry had the snowman done, with very little help from his parents. He even ran inside to find his old scarf that he used to wear frequently and wrapped it around the snowman's neck.

"What do you think?" he asked, standing back to admire his work.

Emma and Killian stood arm in arm. "Brilliant," he exclaimed. "Hope will love it!"

Henry seemed satisfied with that and as it had began to snow heavily again, they finally all trooped back inside and headed for the warmth of the log fire. Emma was pleased for a good excuse to try out one of her Christmas presents and made them all hot chocolate to warm them up, along with some of the cookies they had made the day before, whilst they sat around the fire, chatting and sharing stories with Ella.

The living room was filled with laughter as Henry finished telling some elaborate story during the time he spent in the realm where he met Ella when Emma suddenly noticed the time. "Oh," she nudged Killian rather sharply, "we should be getting ready to head to my parents. I want to change first." Emma had dressed very casually this morning, but she knew her Mom would expect her to dress up a little.

"Right," Killian got up as Emma got to her feet. "I'll come and change too. Do you think Hope is going to wake up in time?" he asked her.

"I can go and wake her, if you want?" Henry offered.

Killian laughed. "No, mate. You don't want to do that. Takes after her Mum, Hope does, she's a right cranky arse if she's woken!"

"Oi!" Emma swatted the back of her hand against his chest and scowled at him. "We'll be back shortly," she told her son and his girlfriend as she headed upstairs, Killian pouting as he rubbed his chest whilst following her.

Upstairs in their room, Emma stripped off her comfy yoga pants and sweater and went to rummage in the closet for a pair of jeans and a pretty top – that was about as fancy as she was getting and was most certainly not wearing a dress in this weather!

Killian crept up behind her as she stood in just her underwear, deliberating her choices of clothing, His hand wrapped around her bare waist as he gently kissed her shoulder. It seemed she wasn't the only one feeling a little extra affectionate today, which was flattering, but hardly the time. "We don't have time for that!" she hissed and nudged him back with her hip. "Besides, Henry is right down stairs!"

"Aye," he nodded. "He also lived here for four years after we were married and he survived," he pointed out.

"He also spent a lot of time at Regina's!" she reminded him, pulling a floral printed top from it's hanger.

Killian huffed as he turned to find a clean shirt of his own, their closet neatly sorted into his and hers sections. "So does that mean that I can't kiss my wife?" he asked as she set her clothes down on the bed and he followed her out of the closet.

"Of course not. But, I know you...us, if we start fooling around in here, we'll easily get carried away and then he'll catch us or something and it will all just be embarrassing," she said as she sat down on the bed to pull her jeans on.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever going to have sex again!" he grumbled, pulling his shirt off.

"Don't be so dramatic!" she rolled her eyes and pulled her blouse over her head before moving to sit at the dressing table to brush her hair. "We had sex just, erm..." She tried to think, distracted by the view of him topless in the mirror.

"Last week," he remembered. "An entire week ago. There was a time we made love almost every day, sometimes more than once a day and now..." he heaved a great sigh.

"Yes, well we had a baby, priorities change when you're a parent to an infant, their needs come first."

"I know and I'm not saying that I regret having Hope at all, she's one of the two greatest blessings in my life and I wouldn't trade her for anything. I would just very much like to have sex with my wife more often."

"Tonight," she promised him as she turned to face him. "I promise. Hope will be exhausted after her busy day and should sleep through for us. So, tonight the parents can have some fun. I miss being intimate with you too," she revealed.

"Good," he smiled.

"Now," she began as she set down her brush, picked up something from the dressing table and made her way towards him. "Oh, I'm an idiot, I was about to ask you to help me put this on," she held up the chain he'd bought her for Christmas, "but...well that will probably be difficult for you."

"I'm sorry, love. You know I'd help if I could. I can hold your hair out of the way?" he offered.

"Thank you," she smiled and turned her back to him. "And I know you'd help me do anything."

"You do like it, don't you?" he asked, watching as she fastened it around her neck herself and then let go of her hair

"Of course I do," she turned to face him. "It's so beautiful and really personal," she touched the pendant where it rested against her skin. "And not at all cheesy, unlike those heart pendants with our names entwined or something," she chuckled.

"Good to know," he nodded, "because I did briefly consider those." he admitted. "Until I saw that one and knew it was perfect."

"Well, you made a good choice. How about the one I got you? Do you like it?" she asked a little uncertainly. "It's fine if you don't, I can probably return it and..."

"Emma," he grabbed her hand to stop her rambling and tugged her towards him. "I think it's brilliant and what I love most about it is that it's like a little secret between us. Most people are going to assume it's because of my Naval background or being a pirate, but we know it represents when we met. Even if I wasn't exactly gracious at the time, I..."

"You were a huge ass!" she interrupted him.

He gave her a rather contrite smile. "Even still, I am glad we met. Although I had no idea at the time you would completely turn my life around."

"And you mine," she added and placed a gentle kiss against his lips.

"But, would you mind very much if I took it from the chain and added it to this one?" He held up the single chain with his skull and dagger charms that he always wore.

"No," she shook her head. "It will probably look better like that anyway," she smiled and lay her head against his chest. "And thank you for all the rest of my gifts, even though there is no need to spoil me like that."

"Spoil you? You gave me just as much, if not more gifts!" he scoffed.

She gave a little snort of laughter and looked up at him again. "I love you," she told him earnestly.

"I love you too," he replied with a tender smile and stole a short kiss.

Being unable to resist taking advantage of a quiet moment, they began to give in to their desires as the kissing intensified and they fell onto the bed together. Their arms were around one another as they kissed and kissed, his body nestled comfortable against hers. Emma let her head fall back as the kisses strayed from her lips and down her neck, his hand deftly unbuttoning the blouse she had just put on. His warm mouth continued marking it's way along her skin, around the mound of her breast. Her knee was between his thighs and his hand had popped open the button and was just slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans when there was a knock at the door.

"You'd better both be dressed in there!" Came Henry's voice through the door. "Because we don't have time for any funny business! And if either of you are interested, Hope is awake," he added.

Killian groaned and dropped his head beside her on the bed. "Our daughter has impeccable timing," he grumbled, both of them now aware of her cries.

"Tonight," Emma promised him again with a kiss. "We'll have tonight," she repeated as she wiggled out from beneath him. "Can you grab Hope for me and I'll be there in just a moment!" Emma called back to Henry.

"Okay," he called back and they heard his footsteps head across the hall.

Emma clambered from the bed and buttoned her blouse and jeans back up and then smoothed her hair down before she darted into the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror, not wanting anything to give them away.

"I'll go grab our little cygnet," Killian told her, poking his head around the bathroom door.

"Okay," she nodded, pleased she had time to apply a little make up and hopefully hide the red mark now appearing on her neck – damn pirate!

Emma returned downstairs a few minutes later where she received a knowing look from her son. "What?" she asked him.

"I don't even want to know," he shook his head.

"Good, because I am not telling you," she replied. She was not about to apologise to anyone, least of all her son, for making out with her husband in her own home. Instead she went to sort out the gifts to take over to her parents.

Killian came downstairs with a much happier baby than the one they had put down for a nap. He'd also packed her diaper bag and had it slung over his shoulder – he was proving to be an amazing, responsible and reliable father.

Emma looked up from her position knelt at the tree as she sorted piles of present for her parents and little brother. "Hey you," she got up and took Hope from Killian. "My, don't you look adorable?" She held the baby under her armpits at arms length as she took in her outfit that was unfamiliar to her. Her dad had dressed her in a white, velour onesie, that had a ballerina style red skirt attached and on the front it read 'I Santa'. "Another new outfit?" she asked her husband.

He shrugged sheepishly. "How could I resist that for Christmas day?"

She smiled and kissed Hope's cheeks, giving her a big cuddle. "Well, I can't be annoyed since she's the picture of cuteness in it." She gave her husband's cheek a kiss too.

"Are we going yet?" Henry asked, sounding frustrated as he grabbed his bag of presents for his Grandparents.

"Right. Yes, we're ready." She handed Hope back to Killian and then grabbed her new red cardigan and pulled it on, before going to find their coats.

"You're wearing your new sweater?" Killian looked up and noticed as he put Hope's coat on and then his own. He seemed rather touched and impressed she was wearing it. Buying clothes for Emma was no easy feat.

"Yes," she told him, pulling her own coat on. "It's so soft and warm, I want to be cosy at Mom and Dad's." she smiled and went to grab the pile of presents. "You got the baby?" she checked.

"Aye," he answered her, slinging her bag over his shoulder again before scooping Hope up from the sofa.

"Then we're ready to go," she announced and they all trailed out of the door.