Birthday

"She's going to be so excited, love," Killian said as he helped Emma wrap a few of the last minute presents.

Emma smiled. "I know. She's been excited about her birthday for a month."

Killian chuckled and pushed aside the last wrapped present. "I don't know how she even remembered it. She's only three, now turning four."

Emma shrugged. "Little kids will remember anything that has to do with presents."

"Of course they will." Killian stood up and then helped Emma up.

Emma stood up with a small groan. She put her hand on her eight-month bump. Doctor Whale had told her to go easy the next month and rest as much as she could, but Emma being Emma, refused to let that get in the way of her daughter's birthday.

"Why don't you lie down for a bit while I go do the finishing touches on the party," Killian suggested.

Emma shook her head, though it made her a little dizzy. After the dizziness wore off, she nodded. "Okay."

Killian smiled and helped her over to the bed. He helped her sit down and watched her slowly swing her legs onto the bed. "I'll be back in a little bit, love." He kissed her forehead.

Suddenly, the door flew open and little Hope ran in, screaming, "Mommy! Daddy! It my birthday!" She ran up to Killian and started jumping up and down, her baby blanket in hand. "It my birthday!"

Killian chuckled. He leaned down and scooped his daughter into his arms. He kissed her nose. "It's your birthday?" he asked, pretending to be shocked.

Hope nodded and giggled. "Yes, Daddy! How you forget?"

"Oh, I could never forget my baby girl's birthday," he said.

Hope giggled again. She looked at her mother. "Mommy! My birthday today!"

Emma smiled. "That's wonderful. Are you excited?"

Hope nodded "Yeah!"

Killian could see how tired Emma was. "Hope, why don't we go downstairs and have a special birthday breakfast?"
Hope's eyes lit up. "Special?"

Killian nodded. "Aye."

Hope threw her hands up in the air. "Yay! Special breakfast!"

Killian set Hope down on her feet. "I'll meet you in the kitchen in a moment."

Hope nodded and ran out of the room.

Killian smiled and then stood up. He walked over to Emma. "Can I get you anything, love?"

Emma shook her head. "No, I'm just a little exhausted from being up so late last night. This baby doesn't like it when I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me in 30 minutes?" Emma and Killian had been up until almost midnight last night to make sure everything was ready for Hope's birthday party. Killian had insisted that Emma went to bed earlier, but she refused.

Killian nodded. He kissed Emma's head. "Of course. I love you."

Emma smiled. "Love you, too."

"Mommy!" Hope squealed when she saw her father helping her mother down the stairs half an hour later. She ran over to her and put her hands on the sides of Emma's stomach. She kissed it and whispered, "Hi, baby. It my birthday."

Emma smiled. She reached down and brushed some hair out of Hope's face. "Happy birthday, honey."

Hope smiled up at her mom. "Thank you, Mommy. Daddy made special breakfast."

"He did?" Emma teased. "That sounds yummy."

"It is! Come on!" She took Emma's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. Hope climbed onto one of the chairs and pointed to the table. "Look at special breakfast."

On Hope's plate, she had two pancakes with whip cream and strawberries on top. There was a little syrup drizzling down the sides of it.

Emma smiled. "That does look pretty special. What do you say to Daddy?"

Hope looked at Killian. "Thank you, Daddy."

Killian grinned. "My pleasure. Now, let me cut those up for you and then we can eat."

By noon, people started to arrive at the Jones' household for little Hope's party. By 12:30, the party was in full swing.

Hope ran around the house with a few of her friends and Neal. Emma stood in the kitchen, making sure all the snacks were full. Killian stood in the living room, talking to David.

"You ready to be a father of two?" David asked. "It isn't easy."

Killian laughed. "To be fair, mate, one of your kids is the mother of my children."

David just shook his head. "The timeline and ages of this family is just too crazy to comprehend."

Killian chuckled. "That it is."

They chatted a bit more until Killian excused himself to go check up on Emma.

"There is enough food out, love," Killian said, coming to stand next to Emma at the counter.

Emma smiled at him. "You can never have too much food."

Killian rolled his eyes. "Of course you would say that."

Emma laughed, but Killian could hear how tired she sounded.

"Emma, why don't you go upstairs and rest a little," Killian suggested.

Emma shook her head. "I'm fine, Killian."

"At least go sit on the couch. I can finish up here."

Emma looked at Killian. She saw how worried he was and gave in. "Okay, fine; but you after you finish with the snacks, you have to come sit with me."

Killian kissed her gently and quickly. "I will."

"Mommy! Daddy!"'

Emma and Killian looked down and saw an exasperated Hope.

"What is it, darling?" Killian asked.

"Can we have cake, now?" she asked. "Please?"

Emma laughed a little. "Yeah, in a minute. Are you having fun?"

Hope nodded. "Yeah!"

"That's wonderful," Killian said He leaned down and picked up Hope. He kissed her cheek.

Hope giggled. "Me down, Daddy."

Killian pretended to pout. "Why?"

Hope tapped Killian's nose. "'Cause, Daddy. I play with friends."

"Oh, alright." He kissed her head one more time and set her down.

"Bye-bye, Mommy! Bye-bye, Daddy!" Then, Hope turned and ran away, looking for her friends.

Killian took Emma's hand. "Let's go sit on the couch."

"What about the food?" Emma asked.

Killian shrugged. "There's enough." He started walking towards the couch.

Emma laughed and shook her head, but followed Killian. When they got to the couch, Killian helped Emma sit down and then he sat next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. Emma set her head on Killian's shoulder and put a hand on her stomach.

"Hey there, love birds."
Emma and Killian laughed and looked up. Snow stood there, smiling, a cup of punch in her hand.

"Hi, Mom," Emma said.

"You ready for baby number two to be here?" She took a sip of her drink.

"Oh, you have no idea, but there is still another month."

Snow nodded. "Is Hope excited about it?"

Killian nodded slightly. "Aye, that she is."

Emma laughed to herself. "She won't let either of us go shopping without her because she wants to be there in case we buy something for the baby."

Snow laughed. "Of course." Snow noticed the tiredness in Emma's eyes. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. I gotta find Neal and make sure he hasn't gotten into any trouble."

"See ya, Mom."

Snow smiled and walked away.

Emma closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Killian. "We should probably get the cake out, huh?"

Killian nodded. "Aye."

"I can't wait to sleep tonight."

Killian let out a soft chuckle. "You can go take a quick nap if need be. We won't do cake without you."

Emma shook her head and sat up slowly. "Nah, I'm good. Let's just do cake and wrap this thing up. Hope is going to be exhausted."

Finally, around five that night, everyone had left. Hope sat on the living room floor, playing with the new toys she had gotten. Emma and Killian were in the kitchen getting dinner ready for the three of them.

"Let's just make something simple," Emma said, looking through the cabinets. "I'm too tired to make anything."
Killian came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, hand and hook resting on her stomach. "I can make dinner. Go sit on the couch and rest."

Emma leaned back slightly. "Are you sure? You've done a lot today. I haven't hardly helped."

"That's because you're carrying our child; and I want them - and you - to be healthy when they are born."

Emma smiled. "Okay." She turned around and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll go sit down."

Killian grinned. "Good."

Emma pulled away and walked over to the couch. She sat down and leaned back against it. She smiled at her daughter.

Hope looked up at her mom and her eyes lit up. "Mommy!" She jumped off the floor and crawled onto the couch. She snuggled into Emma's side while Emma put her arm around her.

"Hey, baby girl."

"Not baby girl no more. Big girl," Hope corrected.

Emma laughed. "Sorry, I forgot."

"It okay, Mommy."

Emma smiled. "I love you, Hope."

"Love Mommy, too."

When Killian came to get his family for dinner, he was met by a most welcomed surprise. Emma and Hope sat asleep on the couch. Hope was cuddled into Emma's side with a hand on her stomach. Emma's head was facing down towards Hope, a small smile on her lips, showing that she was smiling at her daughter before she fell asleep.

Killian decided he would let them sleep for a little. He kissed Hope's head and then Emma's, whispering, "I love you, my girls."

Hope you enjoyed that chapter!