David stood behind his wife and reached around to hand her a rather thick, obviously homemade book. She showed everyone the title, which was Princess or Prince? Opening the front cover, she began to read.
"Once upon a time there was a very handsome, charming Prince whose name was David." She stopped to smile up at her husband. "He met a beautiful, brilliant Princess named Mary Margaret who was the fairest of them all."
"I wrote that part!" David admitted proudly.
"They fell in love and got married."
"Yer not gonna tell us HOW this baby was made, are ya?" Will Scarlett shouted out. His girlfriend Belle gave him a sharp jab with her elbow.
Mary Margaret smiled good naturedly and answered, "No, this book is rated G, I promise!"
Sitting at the picnic table, Emma giggled at the exchange. Killian gazed at her, thinking how much he loved that sound, and hoping that he'd get to hear it often in the future.
The mother-to-be continued. "Together, they had the fairy tale life that they'd always dreamed about. There was just one thing that would help them to live happily ever after, and that was to have a baby princess or prince of their own. Then one day, they found out that their wish had been granted! It didn't matter to them if they were going to be parents of a girl or a boy, but they were eager to find out all the same. When they did, they couldn't wait to reveal the answer to their family and friends."
Mary Margaret paused to turn the book around, and David moved to kneel down beside her. Knowing that this was the moment of the reveal, Emma sat forward on the bench and grabbed onto Killian's arm in her excitement. He nearly pulled away, as she had taken hold of his left arm, and was clutching the brace where his wrist would be located. But when he looked up at her, she gave no indication whatsoever that she wasn't touching flesh. There was no sign of embarrassment or revulsion on her part. He could almost feel a piece of his heart click back into place.
There was an air of anticipation throughout the whole crowd as Mary Margaret held the book and David turned the page to display an elaborate pop-up that announced "It's a Prince!"
A cheer went up and people rushed forward to congratulate the couple.
Emma and Killian turned to each other with identical giant smiles on their faces.
"A baby boy!" she shouted.
"Do you want to go over, Swan?" he asked.
She hadn't yet let go of his arm. "No, let's wait until the hubbub dies down. Is that okay?"
"Fine with me. Can I get you something to drink?"
"That would be great! I think they have some hard lemonade."
"What flavor?"
"You can choose for me. I'm not picky."
Reluctantly, he pulled away and went in search of the coolers. He hadn't taken two steps when Ruby slid into his vacated spot on the bench.
"Sooooo, it looks like your conversation went well," she smirked.
"Yeah, it was good," Emma hedged.
"What did you talk about?"
"Lots of stuff."
"Oh come on, Ems! Throw me a bone, here! Have you guys moved past the friends stage? Are you at least going to start talking to each other more often?"
"Um, I think so? We're uh, neither one of us is ready to jump into a serious relationship right now, Ruby, so just let us set our own pace, okay?"
Her friend nodded. "Yeah, okay. As long as you give him, and yourself, a chance." They sat without speaking for a few moments, then Ruby said quietly, "I have a confession to make."
"Do I really want to hear this?" Emma asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I might have peeked through the door and saw the two of you kissing." She looked at her friend out of the corner of her eye to gauge her reaction, but it wasn't what she expected.
"It was a nice kiss," Emma said dreamily.
"Wait - you're not gonna yell at me or anything?"
Her friend shrugged. "I'm not really surprised that you were spying. Are you forgetting that I've known you for years, Rubes?"
"Well, I really did try to not...oh, who am I kidding? I just couldn't help myself! I think you two would be great together."
She suddenly realized that Emma didn't seem to be listening to her any more, so she followed her line of vision. Unsurprisingly, she was watching Killian. He was on his way back with two bottles in his hand, but had stopped to talk to Will Scarlett, who must have been telling a funny story because Killian was frequently throwing his head back in laughter.
She looked back at her friend and saw that the same dreamy look had returned to her face. "Oh, you've got it bad, girl," she murmured.
"What?" Emma asked distractedly.
"Nothing. I'm going to go talk to Mary Margaret and David now that most folks have cleared out."
"Okay. We'll do that after Killian gets back with my drink. Oh, and Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
xxxxxxxxx
"Sorry it took so long, Love. I got sidetracked by Will," Killian said, handing her drink to her.
Emma noticed the term of endearment that he'd used, and it made her smile. She couldn't help but think that before they had their conversation in the living room, she probably would have objected to him using it.
"That's fine. It looked like he was telling quite a story."
"Oh, he's quite a story teller, all right! You can only believe about a third of what comes out of his mouth. The rest of it is just a load of nonsense."
Emma laughed and took a sip out of her bottle. "Mmm, peach. One of my favorites."
"I chose wisely then, huh?"
"Are you quoting an Indiana Jones movie?"
"Maybe. Do you like that series?"
"Yep! We'll have to binge watch it sometime soon."
Killian loved the idea of spending hours watching anything with Emma Swan.
"Are you ready to go talk to Dave and Mary Margaret now?" he asked.
"Sure."
She reached over to take his hand, so he picked up his beer with his prosthesis, and they walked over to congratulate their friends hand-in-hand.
xxxxxxxxx
As the evening went on, Emma found herself separated from Killian, while they both circulated to talk to different groups of friends. Every now and then, she would look across the yard and find him, only to see his eyes on her as well. Each time it happened, it made her smile.
By eleven o'clock, the crowd had thinned considerably, until there were just eight people left sitting in lawn chairs on the patio. David had Mary Margaret's feet pulled into his lap and was rubbing them since she'd mentioned how they were starting to hurt. Will was entertaining everyone with his stories of their days in basic training, most of which David and Killian argued never happened. Emma was beside Belle, whom she'd come to like very much, and both were nearly in tears from the boys' banter. Ruby was sitting extremely close to David's co-worker, Graham Humbert, who was the county's dog warden, and who didn't seem to mind in the least that she was practically in his lap.
When Emma looked over to see Mary Margaret hiding a yawn behind her hand, she announced, "I think the party's over when the baby mama can't stay awake!"
Everyone started gathering the bottles, cans, and other trash scattered around the yard and on the tables, over Mary Margaret's objections that they would clean up the next morning. Soon everything was back in pre-party condition.
Hugs, handshakes and goodbyes were shared, then Belle drove off with Will riding shotgun, and Ruby and Graham exchanged numbers along with a more-than-friendly kiss before driving away separately.
Back in the kitchen, Mary Margaret was sitting on a bar stool looking through their reveal book again, as David came in from outside after making sure that the flames in the fire pit were thoroughly doused.
"I can't believe you made that book yourselves," Emma remarked. "And in such a short time! You just found out that it's a boy on Monday!"
"We had the whole thing finished except for the pop-up," the hostess said. "It wasn't hard to do just that one page."
"Well, I'm really happy that I'm gonna be an honorary aunt to a little boy," Emma said, giving each of her friends a hug. Killian shook hands with David and hugged Mary Margaret as well, sharing his congratulations once again.
"I didn't see your car out front, Swan," Killian observed, as she was pulling her purse out of the pantry where she'd stowed it.
"I parked in the driveway. It was easier to bring the cake in through the garage."
"You were in charge of transporting the cake then?"
"Mary Margaret asked me to pick it up for them since they were busy getting ready for the party."
"That was kind of you." He shifted back and forth from foot to foot. "May I walk you to your car?" he asked hopefully.
She chuckled, "Afraid I'll get mugged on the way?"
He reached up to scratch behind his ear, then smoothed the hair down at the nape of his neck. She had noticed that this seemed to be a nervous habit of his, and she thought it was adorable.
"No, I, um, I just thought that…"
She took pity on him. "I'd be happy to have you walk me to my car, Killian."
After saying one final goodbye to Mary Margaret and David, Emma led the way out through the garage to her VW. She tossed her purse in the car, then turned back to Killian. "It was a great party, wasn't it?"
"It was. I'm so happy for them, and I can't wait to meet the little lad."
"I hope that means you'll still be around when he's born."
He nodded. "I plan to be. Actually, I've got a job lined up at the library after my discharge. It's just reshelving books and doing some odds and ends. I don't know how long I'll end up working there, but at least I'll have some money coming in while I'm taking classes."
"That's great! Do you have any idea how much longer until your discharge is approved?"
"I would say a couple more weeks at least. The papers have been filed for about eleven weeks, and they said it would be three months or so."
"Where do you plan to live?"
"I found a hotel that rents by the month. The rooms are more like small apartments, because they're designed for people who stay there long term."
"That's good. Well...I guess I'd better let you get going. You've got a longer drive than me."
"Can I...would it be okay if I call or text you?"
"Of course it is. You already have my number."
"I know, but before, I just...I wasn't sure that you would want me to use it. I kind of felt like...like it would...make you uncomfortable. I'm hoping that's not the case any longer?" he asked, looking up at her from under his eyelashes.
"It won't make me uncomfortable. I feel like we've moved past that point now, at least I'm pretty sure I have. I want to be in contact with you, Killian, but like I said before, just be patient, okay?"
"Absolutely. I'm not ready to jump into another serious relationship right now either, so I'm good with taking it slow."
Emma wanted to ask him about the serious relationship he referred to, but she didn't think that it was the time or place for it. Instead she asked, "Could we have lunch together next week?"
He grinned. "I'd like that very much. Would you like to meet at the same diner again?"
She considered for a few moments. "How about you pick me up at the clinic?"
He'd assumed the last time that she had wanted to drive separately because she thought it was unprofessional to ride with a patient, even though he technically wasn't by that time. So to make this offer seemed like a big step for her.
"That works for me. Shall we say 11:00?"
"My lunch break doesn't start until twelve that day."
"Twelve o'clock then?"
"Sounds perfect."
They stood looking at each other, until Killian decided to take a chance, and gently grasped her hips to tug her closer to him. Emma responded by putting her arms around him and sliding her hands up his back. He looked into her eyes, asking for permission, then slowly and sweetly placed his lips on hers. The kiss they shared was gentle, warm and so romantic that Emma felt her knees weaken. It only lasted a few seconds, but they were wonderful seconds. They kept their foreheads pressed together to maintain the contact for a bit longer, then Killian whispered, "Good night, Emma."
"Good night," she managed to say.
He took her hand, lifted it to his lips, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Then he turned and walked to his truck, blowing out a shaky breath and touching his fingers to his lips, not knowing that Emma was doing the same as she got into her car.
xxxxxxxxx
Killian was getting into bed when his text notification dinged. He unlocked his phone to find a message from Emma.
E: I had a nice time tonight. Thank you for listening and understanding. Sleep well.
K: I enjoyed it too and I'm always willing to listen. Pleasant dreams.
For the first time since the IED explosion, he went to sleep quickly with a smile on his face, and slept peacefully the entire night.
xxxxxxxxx
Killian debated whether or not to text Emma the next day. As much as he had enjoyed the kiss they'd shared at the end of the night, he didn't want to push her. But he'd liked spending time with her so much at the party, he wanted to keep their conversation going in some way. He finally built up the courage to send a quick message early that evening.
Emma had just come out of the bathroom after taking a shower, when she heard an incoming text. Expecting it to be from Ashley, Ruby or Mary Margaret, she was surprised, but pleased, to see Killian's name. She opened it and giggled when she saw the same swan emoji at the end of his message that he had included in his first one all those weeks ago.
She typed out a response, then went to the bathroom to get her hairbrush. In between reading and responding to his messages, she brushed out her hair and settled into a comfortable chair in the living room. She was glad that she hadn't made any plans for her Sunday evening because she was enjoying texting back and forth with him.
They were trying to get to know each other a bit better by exchanging their interests, along with their likes and dislikes on topics ranging from television shows and movies, to places they'd visited, and favorite foods.
K: I'm not very picky when it comes to food, though I haven't developed a fondness for sushi.
E: I can eat it, but it's not my favorite either, although I do like other seafood. I'd say my first choice is Mexican, followed by Chinese and Italian.
K: I like all of those as well. I'm not a big steak eater. I'd rather have chicken or a good pork chop.
E: I see our taste in food is similar, but I guess that's no surprise since you really seemed to enjoy that grilled cheese!
K: I did! I'm glad we're going back to that diner on Tuesday. I've been craving another one!
E: You sound like Mary Margaret with her cravings.
K: Trust me, it's not for the same reason!
Emma was having so much fun reading his texts and coming up with replies, that when Killian sent a message that he should probably let her get some rest, she was astonished to see how much time had passed. She stretched and yawned, carrying her phone with her as she went to get Evie's leash for the puppy's last trip outside for the night. When she sent her final text of the evening to him, she added the picture of the swan, knowing that she had a new favorite emoji.
xxxxxxxxx
On Tuesday, as the clock crept closer to 12 noon, Emma stole glances at it more frequently. Ashley noticed, but waited until the therapist had applied the ice packs for her last patient of the morning, before pulling her aside.
"Is something wrong, Ems?" she asked.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Because you keep looking at the clock like you're running late for something."
Emma hadn't told any of her friends about meeting Killian for lunch. She didn't want them making a big deal out of it, because she wasn't quite sure herself what was happening between them yet.
Making a quick decision to tell Ashley, she said, "Um, Killian Jones is picking me up at noon to go to lunch with him."
Her friend smiled broadly. "That's great, Emma! Why don't you go ahead and freshen up? I'll finish with Private Clarke."
"No, it's fine, I can…"
"All I have to do is remove the ice packs when the timer goes off. I think I can handle that," the assistant said with a smile and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Go!"
Knowing there wasn't any point in arguing, Emma went back to her office and checked her makeup and hair. She applied a touch more lipstick, tucked some stray hair back into her braid, then gave it a quick spritz of hair spray from the small pump bottle she kept in her purse.
When she walked back out into the treatment room, she saw Killian standing by the front desk. He was dressed in jeans and a light blue button down instead of the fatigues she was accustomed to seeing him in during the day, and he was fidgeting nervously with the chain that she knew held his mother's ring.
As she approached, he turned his head and saw her. His eyes lit up and he walked over to meet her.
"Hello, beautiful!"
"Hey!" she blushed. "I'm ready if you are."
Both of them turned to wave at Ashley, who was preparing the table for the afternoon. She waved back, telling them to enjoy themselves, then watched them walk out to his truck.
They went to the diner again, and put in the same food order. After finding an open table, their conversation started flowing freely. They discussed some memories from the party, and talked about how they thought Mary Margaret and David would handle being parents.
"They're naturals," Emma declared. "Sometimes I feel like they're my parents the way they're always watching out for me."
"Aye, that babe will be in good hands," Killian agreed. "David was my first friend in basic. I think he could tell that I was in need of one at that time. They're both very caring people."
The time passed much more quickly than either one of them wanted it to, and soon he was dropping her back off at the therapy center.
After taking her hand to help her from the truck, he continued to hold it. "Swan, I was wondering…" He paused, searching for the right words.
"Wondering what, Killian?" she prompted.
"Would you...would you go out with me? On an actual date, I mean."
Emma knew that he expected her to hesitate. He probably thought that after taking one step forward by going to lunch together, she'd take two steps back when he asked her out.
So it was a bit of a surprise to both of them when she answered firmly, "Yes, Killian. I would very much like to go on a date with you."
xxxxxxxxx