Hello Oncers! It's been a while. I came up with this story while wrapping Christmas presents. I seriously had everything planned out, but first I had to finish wrapping. I finally got the story finished in early January, but then I ran into some technical difficulties. But here it is finally, and I hope you enjoy!


December 17th

Emma POV

"Yep. Seven o'clock. Uh huh. We're bringing brownies for dessert. I won't forget! Yes, I got Christmas gifts for everyone on the list, and I'm going to wrap them tonight. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you too, bye." Emma Jones conversed with her mom over the phone and finally the call was over.

"I have a headache." Emma sighed as she plugged her phone in to charge and slouched back in her seat at the sheriff station.

"Take your mind off all the planning, love. I know your mother makes a big deal of things, but your part is rather simple. Bake brownies, wrap gifts, and attend the party tomorrow night. Then we get to relax for a few days, and then it's Christmas Eve and Christmas Day." Killian attempted to assure her with his words.

"I appreciate the pep talk, but I have a real headache, and it's not because of the phone call." She informed him matter-of-factly. "By the way, is it warm in here, or is it just me?"

"Warm?" Her husband questioned. "You usually complain that it's chilly in here."

"Maybe it's my sweater." She commented as she grabbed a granola bar, so she could eat and then take ibuprofen.

Two hours later

"Uh, I need to clean some of the junk out of my purse. It weighs a ton, and my shoulder is killing me." Emma commented aloud as she packed up her stuff. It was ten minutes to five and just about time for her to go home.

The ibuprofen never kicked in, and all she wanted to do was sleep. The pounding in her head only grew worse when the phone rang. Whoever it was, they were lucky Killian answered. She would have ripped the person's head off through the phone. Right now she could give the Grinch a run for his money.

"That was Phillipe, Swan. He's on his way, but he got a flat tire, and he's going to be late." Killian told her when he got off the phone.

"Seriously!? Of all the…" She began to rant in frustration, but she stopped herself.

This wasn't like her. Sure, she got irritated now and then, and people could get under her skin, but she had never been mad at Phillipe before. Phillipe Tannen was the evening shift deputy. He had come to Storybrooke from the Land of Untold Stories, and before that he was from a kingdom that neighbored Arendale and had similarities to France from the Land Without Magic.

Really long story somewhat short, Phillipe was the secret twin brother of Louis XIV. He lived quietly in the countryside until the king died and his brother became king. His brother had him put in prison and into an iron mask to conceal his identity. Sometime later, the three musketeers broke Phillipe out of prison and convinced him to switch places with his brother. The plan almost worked. Having been caught as an imposter, Phillipe was thrown back into prison and into the mask once more. Having learned of the imposter, D'Artagnan realized that he had not one but two sons. He was the true father of the twin boys, not Louis XIII as everyone believed. D'Artagnan felt that he had failed both of his sons in different ways. He was nearly at the end of his rope hoping that Louis would become a better man, but he still had a chance to make a difference in Phillipe's life. So, D'Artagnan went to the prison in the dead of night with two keys. The first key was to unlock the mask. The second key was not to unlock the gates of his son's prison cell, but to a secret door that would lead his son to a new world, a world where he could be free.

"I know you're having a bit of an off day, love. Go on home and relax." Killian told her. "I'll stay until Phillipe gets here. Then I'll walk home, or see if Henry can pick me up when he's done with his English tutoring. And don't worry about dinner."

"I don't know what's wrong with me today." She sighed, really wishing she felt better.

She had been fine all day until she got the headache, which she assumed was either from sitting at the computer for too long or not drinking enough water. The phone call with her mom was just a coincidence and not the instigator. Come to think of it though, the tiredness was worse right now, but the feeling of not having any energy had been with her all day. She hoped that maybe she was just rundown in preparation for the holidays and not actually coming down with something.

One hour later

Killian POV

Killian and Henry arrived home with food from Granny's. Killian was surprised that Emma had actually taken his advice and gone to sleep upstairs. She must really not be feeling well, he thought to himself. His thoughts were confirmed when she sluggishly came downstairs and declined the grilled cheese he ordered for her. Instead she ate some plain leftover pasta from two nights ago. During the meal Henry did most of the talking. He was very proud, and rightfully so, that Olivia, a middle-school girl that he was tutoring in English, got a 90 on her latest assignment.

After dinner, Killian suggested to Emma that she go back upstairs. He had hoped eating would help her improve, but she was fighting a losing battle. She no longer had a headache, but she seemed barely awake. He also remembered her comment about her purse being heavy and bothering her shoulder. She hadn't said another word about it since then, but Killian could tell by the way she moved that she was dealing with some aches.

Since Emma insisted it was too early to go to bed for the night, they all settled on the couch to watch a Christmas movie. Henry picked Elf, and Emma was asleep before Buddy reached New York. After the movie Killian brought Emma upstairs and got her into bed. On his way back downstairs he passed the guestroom where Emma had stored most of the Christmas gifts, except of course for the ones meant for him and Henry. He was affronted at first that she thought it necessary to have a hiding spot for his gifts. Her rationale was that he was a pirate and because he had one for her, so it was only fair. He couldn't really argue. He was still a pirate in certain ways, and he felt justified in having a hiding spot for her gifts. She had found the engagement ring after all.

"Henry, do you have much homework to do?" Killian asked when he reentered the living room.

"It can wait until later. There's nothing due tomorrow or anything. What's up?" Henry asked with a hint of excitement.

Killian understood the importance of the lad's homework, and he knew it didn't take much of an excuse for Henry to put it off. But Henry was responsible and could still manage his homework in addition to a side project.

"Emma was planning to wrap the gifts tonight for the party tomorrow. She obviously won't be doing that tonight, and I'll doubt she'll be up for it tomorrow either. But even if she is doing better, I know she would appreciate it if we took care of the wrapping for her." He suggested to Henry.

"Yeah, I can help with that. We can bring the presents down here, so we won't disturb Mom. And watch another Christmas movie or listen to Christmas music. Let's call it Operation…Nutcracker." Henry planned enthusiastically, all on board with the idea.

"Operation Nutcracker it is." Killian agreed and they quietly made their way upstairs to retrieve the presents.

"So this bag is the presents for the fire department, and this bag is for the EMTs." Killian pointed out as he verified with the list Snow had given Emma.

Last year Snow and Regina had decided to do something nice for the workers of Storybrooke, from firefighters to teachers and all other town employees, by having a dinner the week before Christmas. For those who were on duty and couldn't attend the party, people would go caroling afterwards to the fire station and the hospital. The police were also included of course, but they didn't buy gifts for themselves. Regina was the one getting presents for them this year, along with gifts for her own office staff. Snow had the hospital staff; Belle had the teachers, and so on. It was a nice way to say thanks to the community and enjoy the peace that Storybrooke now had.

"Okay. And here's the tape and scissors. I got two of each for us, and here's the wrapping paper. We've got three different patterns. Let's get started." Henry stated and then pressed a button on his phone to play some soft, instrumental Christmas music.

Start the wrapping they did, but finishing the presents was a different matter. Usually Killian used gift bags for the gifts he gave; it made things easier since he was working with a hook. He made due however and used his hook as a holder for the paper roll and as a cutting guide for the scissors in his right hand. Aye, cutting the paper wasn't so bad, but getting the paper around the gift was a nightmare.

Henry was also experiencing some issues, but his were the opposite. The lad was good at wrapping things neatly. Killian figured it was something learned from Regina. But Henry struggled with measuring the right amount of paper and cutting it straight. After about half an hour and two presents wrapped by each of them with much frustration, they took a break to rethink things.

"So, I suck at the part you're really good at, and you suck at the part I'm really good at." Henry stated the blunt truth as they stood in the kitchen eating the failed attempt at a homemade gingerbread house from a couple days ago. Apparently the icing had been too thin to hold the gingerbread together, and it collapsed overnight.

"Aye, and it will be dawn before we finish at this right." Killian sighed.

"I love a good all-nighter like any teenager, but that's when it comes to video games or movies or something, not doing research projects, or in this case wrapping presents." Henry told him, and dunked a piece of gingerbread into his glass of milk. "Let's do an assembly line. You do all the cutting and measuring, then pass me the paper that's ready to go, and I'll do the wrapping and the name tags. It helps that everyone is getting the same thing instead of a bunch of random and different things."

"That sounds more reasonable than what we've been doing." Killian agreed. "Let's get back to it."

The second attempt at gift wrapping was much more successful. They had all the gifts wrapped by midnight. They were both very tired and a bit delirious by the end of it, but they had enjoyed themselves and had a bit of fun together. They may or may not have paused for a duel when two rolls of wrapping paper had been used up. It was a long night, but the job was done, and they were proud of themselves and pleased with the results. It was well worth it.

December 18th

The next afternoon Killian was at the sheriff's station by himself. Emma had woken up in the morning feeling significantly worse. The headache had returned, and on top of that she had a fever and told him her whole body felt stiff and achy. It was also proof of how bad she was feeling that she didn't protest too much when he suggested she stay home, and she was asleep again within a matter of minutes.

He sent Snow a text and informed her that Emma was unwell and wouldn't make it tonight, but he assured her that everything on their end had been taken of. Snow replied back with well wishes for Emma, and also a reminder about the brownies. Bloody hell, he had forgotten about those. Killian glanced at the clock and saw that it was three o'clock. Henry didn't have any after school activities or tutoring today, so he should be available. Killian was a decent chef in the kitchen when it came to making meals, but he didn't know the first thing about baking. He had a vague memory of his mother making a cake once for Liam's birthday, but the memory was mostly about sneaking a taste of the icing.

"Henry, lad, I'm in need of some assistance." He greeted Henry over the phone. "Last night worked out well, so I thought we could team up again for this."

"What do you need?"

"Emma was supposed to bake four dozen brownies for tonight. Now, I'll be out of here at five, so in the meantime if you could find a recipe out of a cookbook or ask Regina for one…"

"Wait a minute. You're gonna come home around five and we're supposed to have four dozen brownies baked and ready to go by seven o'clock? Are you crazy? And actually the dinner starts at seven so the brownies need to be ready sooner than that!"

"Don't think of it as crazy. Think of it as trying our best for the sake of the Christmas spirit." Killian told him. It sounded more like something Snow would say than he usually would, but he really wanted to attempt the brownies. It would help Snow and Emma, it would make the people eating them happy, and it was a chance to try something new with Henry. They had a good time together the night before, and he wanted to keep that ball rolling.

"Sure, what the heck. It can't turn out as bad as Cousin Catherine's turkey in Christmas Vacation."

"Thanks, Henry, I'll owe you one. See you soon."

A few minutes after Killian got off the phone with Henry, he heard the main door of the station open. Killian looked up and was surprised to see Phillipe entering the room.

"Good afternoon, Jones. I take it Emma's already left for the day." Phillipe greeted him and took his seat at his desk. This didn't seem to be a social call before his shift.

"It's good to see you, Phillipe, but what are you doing here so early? And Emma didn't leave, she wasn't here today. It seems she's been hit with the flu or something."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I assumed because…well, she asked me last week to come in early today. She said she needed to bake brownies for tonight. I said I would if it meant I could leave early, and I'd stay on call of course if anything happened. I know people go caroling, but it would be strange for a group to show up and sing to just myself. I want to attend the party and get a taste of those brownies since I was taking her place so she could make them. I guess that's not exactly the case anymore."

"Well, they probably won't be as good as the ones Emma was going to bake, but Henry and I are going to give it our best go. In fact, you're early arrival puts the odds a little more in our favor." Killian stood and gathered his things and gave Phillipe a pat on the back. "I'll see you later tonight, mate."

"Best of luck to you." Phillipe bid him farewell with an amused smirk that he was unable to hide.

Half hour later

"So the good news is, I found four boxes of brownie mix in the cabinet. The bad news is we only have two pans. Not that we can fit more than that in the oven at once anyway, but it still makes things trickier. We'll have to wait until the first two pans cool, then cut the brownies, put them on a tray, and then reuse the pans for the next batch." Henry explained as they prepped a battle plan rather than start with trial and error as they had last night with the wrapping.

"I wonder how Emma was planning to do this?" Killian sighed as he read over the instructions on the box of brownie mix to see if it had any extra tips. It would be difficult, but they weren't giving up before they started.

"Probably exactly what we're going to try, but she'd go faster because she knows more than we do and has more experience." Henry shrugged as he got out the needed pans and bowls and whatnot.

"Knowledge is important, but it doesn't make the oven go any faster." Killian commented as he gathered the eggs and other needed ingredients.

"Maybe she planned to use magic." Henry joked.

"Then let's prove that two amateurs can pull this off without magic." Killian stated, more determined than ever. "Assembly line?"

"Assembly line." Henry nodded with all seriousness, and they shook hands before getting to work.

6 o'clock pm

Emma POV

Emma woke up as she rolled over, the discomfort in her back was enough to catch her awareness and keep her from falling back to sleep. She had slept for most of the day and only woke up for brief periods here and there. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was six o'clock. It felt weird to be waking up in the evening, but she at least felt somewhat rested. All the other times she had woken up she felt like a zombie. Her headache was also gone, even if the achiness in her body remained. She wasn't sure if she still had a fever or not, but thankfully she wasn't dealing with nausea on top of everything else.

Emma checked her phone and saw a text from her mom.

Killian mentioned you were under the weather. I'd be happy to get you anything if you need something, but if not, I'll just let you get your rest. And don't worry about the dinner or anything else for tonight, it's all covered.

There was a time when her mother would have fussed over her, over compensating for not being there when she was sick as a kid. But a text to know she was thinking about her and the opportunity to just sleep it off was all Emma needed. She appreciated that more than all the other fussy stuff.

Wanting to feel a little more human again, Emma grabbed some clothes and changed. She had been wearing the same clothes from yesterday still. Then she braided her hair, so it wasn't quite as messy before making her way downstairs. On her way down, she smelled something. She wasn't sure what it was, her sense of smell was off too. But whatever it was, it did smell good.

"Hey, look who's alive after all." Henry teased when he saw her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Very funny, kid." She replied with a half-hearted attempt at sarcasm. She took a seat on the recliner instead of her usually spot on the couch. She didn't want Henry or Killian to catch whatever it was she had.

"It's good to see you up and about, love. Feeling better I take it?" Killian asked and sent her an encouraging smile.

"Well, this is the best I've felt all day. I don't feel great or normal, but right now I'm a little better. On a different note, what's that smell?"

"That would be the brownies. They're cooling in the kitchen, and I'll cut them up in a little while." Killian told her, looking rather proud and so did Henry.

"You guys baked brownies?" Emma questioned and couldn't hide the surprise from her tone. "Mom said everything was covered. I thought that meant she took care of everything."

"Nope, Killian and I did it with no assistance necessary. We did all the presents last night, and we did the baking this afternoon." Henry informed her.

"We were a little unsure about the brownies. But Phillipe was unaware that you weren't feeling well and still came in early. Henry and I had the four dozen brownies made with time to spare as you can see. We even got a little creative with the second batch and decided to add some crushed candy canes and MMs to the mix. And by the way, parchment paper is a life saver in the kitchen." Killian added his details with enthusiasm.

"Mmmm, you'll have to save one for me. I definitely want to try one later." She told them, and they both grinned with her approval. She didn't really have an appetite right now, but her words were still true.

"Of course, Swan. And no one will notice if there's only forty-seven brownies since we'll be bringing them on that Christmas tray Granny gifted to us last year." He promised.

"And the wrapping? You got all that done? This I've got to see."

Emma knew Killian was someone who defaulted to gift bags, and Henry was good at wrapping but not very coordinated with the roll of wrapping paper. When she tried to imagine them wrapping gifts she could only picture a mess of colorful paper like a tornado had gone through the room.

Henry pulled out one for the boxes they'd put the wrapped gifts into from behind the couch. Emma peered over the edge of the box and was impressed to see what they had done. It looked pretty close to professional. She should let them help with stuff like this more often, but she never thought they'd be interested and get so involved. Henry then went on to explain exactly how they pulled it all off and their method of teamwork.

"Having an assembly line, that's the key." Henry stated once he had summed it all up.

"I have to agree because you guys did an amazing job, probably even better than I would have. You didn't have to do all this, but it means a lot that you did. And I know Mary Margaret appreciates it too. She could have done it, but she already had enough on her plate." She commended her husband and son.

"Well, that's what this evening is about, showing appreciation to all the helpers that keep this town going. We wanted to do it for you, love, and we also figured we'd try to spare you mother the extra trouble. Plus, I enjoy finding opportunities where Henry and I can participate in something together." Killian replied with a fond smile toward Henry.

"Yeah, me too." Henry nodded and stood up a little too quickly. "I'm gonna go get changed."

"He can be so mature and wise beyond his years, but he can also be a regular, awkward teenager." Emma shook her head with a smile once Henry was upstairs. "Still, I think he definitely had fun with everything you did together."

"He is gifted with words, both written and spoken, but he also takes after you as far as actions. The actions of others mean a lot to him, and his own actions say what words sometimes cannot or perhaps words not ready to be said." Killian spoke quietly after a moment of thinking.

"Yeah, you would know all about that." She had to agree as she thought back to many moments in their relationship. "You understand me, and you understand Henry, and we understand you. All of this, that's not son and mom's boyfriend stuff or son and mom's new husband stuff. That's dad and his son stuff. Keep on keeping on, Killian."

"Well, I…" He began to reply as he rubbed that spot behind his ear.

"Hey, Killian, Mom, which one looks better?" Henry interrupted as he came bursting back into the room. "The green one with the Christmas lights or the red one with the snowmen?"

"The snowmen." Emma replied at the same time that Killian said, "The green."

"Wow, that was super helpful." Her son sarcastically stated the obvious.

"Then wait until Killian gets dressed and decide if you want to match him or not." She suggested to him.

"Well, I best get a move on then." Killian then got up and followed Henry upstairs so he could change.

Fifteen minutes later both he and Henry were back downstairs and subtly matching indeed. Henry had gone with the red tie with snowmen, and Killian wore his red vest from the Enchanted Forest. Even though Emma still wasn't feeling the greatest, she still insisted on taking a picture of them in front of the tree. And then they convinced her to join in the second, selfie-style photo even though she felt like a mess, they insisted on a Jones family photo. Emma agreed because she had already ordered Christmas photos to be printed at a Walgreens that was outside Storybrooke.

Then her boys made quick work of cutting up the brownies and arranging them nicely on the tray and wrapping it up. Even though she wasn't dealing with the food, Emma joined them in the kitchen for a little more conversation, but also to make sure she got a brownie for later. Then Killian and Henry were out the door and arrived right on time for the dinner.

Later that evening

Killian POV

"Your brownies were a hit." Snow told them as they returned to the empty banquet hall after caroling. They still had some clean up to do. "How did you manage to pull it off?"

"With the tried and true method of Operation Nutcracker." Killian replied matter-of-factly.

"Which is?" Snow asked with amused curiosity.

"Well, you start with an assembly line." Henry began to explain.

And so they did, and the cleaning was done in under an hour between himself, Henry, Snow, and David. And on Christmas Day, the assembly line method was employed again. This time with Emma, now perfectly recovered, in the mix to pull off hosting a Christmas dinner for the family. After the meal and opening presents, they all settled down and watched an animated movie version of The Nutcracker.

Killian and Henry put Operation Nutcracker to use on many occasions, Christmas related and otherwise. But their favorite time to put it into action was around Christmas. Their assembly lines weren't always a success, and many times Killian wondered how the bloody hell they'd gotten into one situation or another. But it was always worth it for the time and experience spent together. It taught them how to best work together, and it led to a new hobby for them. Aye, they started collecting nutcrackers, from ones that were classic soldiers to the ones from the story to modern ones that portrayed family members and friends. They had a sea captain for Killian, a snowman couple for Snow and David, a female nutcracker with a red dress for Emma, a Chewbacca for Henry, and many more. But for Killian and Henry, they both found their favorite nutcracker in a baker with a gingerbread man in one hand and a plate of brownies in another.


The end! I hope you enjoyed it.BTW, I have another new story. It's going to be three chapters, and the first one has been posted. It's an AU where Killian and Emma meet on a roller coaster.