Chapter 17: Revelations
David is thoroughly enjoying having Archie around. His presence provides a familiarity he's missed. He would have preferred a visit from one of his favorite girls but soon he will be home with them. That thought alone is the reason he doesn't let the guilt of Snow's declining health and the heartbreak his beautiful daughter must have felt at the ending of her betrothal kill him.
He will ask Archie about Emma once they get back to his little house. Today, they have gone to the office to ensure all the papers needed for Kristoff's power of attorney are signed. He will also introduce Archie to the rest of his adoptive family.
A couple of hours later Archie and David find themselves in front of a beautiful two-story, brownstone house. There are a few oak trees not far from the front door. The houses in Arendelle are built closely together and all look like replicas of each other because of the speed in which the town keeps growing.
David is about to knock on the door when a beautiful blonde woman opens the door with a smile on her face.
Archie blinks a few times because the woman is so beautiful and he knows he will be unable to put a sentence together once their eyes meet. He cannot help smile as he sees the fondness in which she greets David with and while they talk to each other with smiles on their faces, she suddenly turns to acknowledge his presence and with a similar warm smile says, "Hello," and waves them in.
Archie knows that not all love stories share the same beginning. Some are love at first sight, others start with a simple friendship and there are the rare ones that blossom from a little dislike of the other person and turn out to be some of the greatest love stories ever told.
He listens carefully, trying not to miss a thing; he has heard that story many times before from his friend. He is happy to finally be able to put a face to the tale of his friend finding a friend in his time of need. He could definitely listen to her retell that story over and over and never tire.
Soon Elsa and Anna arrive, and it is a big family reunion. They talk about all of the exploits of the two young girls and both of them blush.
David is hit with an old favorite. The longing he feels for his family. He smiles as the conversation continues and nod in response only when needed; he soon will be reunited.
Liam finds his way to the little get together at Ingrid's house later that evening.
"I know your brother," Archie shares with Liam conspiratorially.
"Oh, that is good. How is he?" Liam looks to the older man.
"Killian is a survivor. Your brother has had a hard life."
"I can only imagine the life he has had to endure. I hope you know that had I known of his existence, I would have gone looking for him. I would have never left him behind."
"I believe you, and I think Killian knows that your words you speak are true."
"Tell me, did he marry the woman he was so adamant about returning to?"
"He told you he wanted to get married?"
"I helped him so he wouldn't be apart from his love longer than he had to. I would hate to be apart from Elsa," Liam says as he glances to his love.
"I'm afraid not. He will soon be marrying. Sadly, I don't think we could make it back in time to make the wedding. He will marry Emma within days."
"Who is marrying Emma?" David looks at Archie expectantly waiting for an answer.
"David, I have been meaning to break the news since I arrived."
"Why haven't you? I ask again, who is marrying my daughter?"
Liam interrupts, "My long lost brother and the man marrying your daughter are the same man, Killian Jones."
"Your brother is the same man?"
Ingrid, Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff are looking between the three men in a heated conversation.
"David is everything okay?" Ingrid is the first to speak.
"Liam, what is going on?"
In a surprisingly out of character twist Anna and Kristoff are abnormally silent.
David answers first. "Archie has just informed me that my daughter will be marrying a Killian Jones within days. A detail he failed to mention when he first arrived and talked this Jones character up for a business merger."
"This Jones character is my younger brother," Liam adds a bit insulted at David's reaction and smiles at Elsa.
"Wait, is he the same man that was arrested all those months back? He is the man that was going to steal from me? The name sounded so familiar." David's anger is visible.
"David, I explained the reason he was released. It was a mistake. He had no idea what his men were up to. They confessed and indicated he had no knowledge of their plans." A little fact that no one in the group knows, Liam made arrangements with the crew to confirm his version of the events. The only goal was to protect his brother, and thanks to the loyalty the crew holds to Killian, he can.
"Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact that he is your brother, as I just found out."
"I didn't mention it before because of your obvious reaction. I found out about the familial relationship around that time."
"Killian mentioned this to me too. He said it was a mistake. I believe he is telling you the truth." Archie interrupts.
"David, I know I should have mentioned this as soon as I got off that ship but I got distracted." He says while stealing a glance at Ingrid.
"I just feel like I keep missing out on my daughter's milestones."
"Once we return you will be there and never leave her again."
Elsa goes to reach for Liam's arm. "Hey, are you planning to make the trip back with them? That way you see your brother and meet his new bride."
"I don't know, David is upset and besides I would prefer if you went along on such a trip." He squeezes her arm reassuringly.
"So does that mean I will be seeing you soon on the Misthaven shores? I'm just happy everything is set and we can leave tomorrow." David smiles faintly as he looks at Liam and lastly confirms the plans with Archie with a slight nod.
Cora is ecstatic about the impending wedding between Emma and Killian. She has spent a good amount of money ensuring the union comes together. She sees it as an investment to get Captain Jones away from her son and his inheritance. A small price to pay but it is definitely worth it.
She had fired all the older workers when Jones had started working at the Estate in hopes to keep the secret in the dark. Just one last thing, erasing the existence of the letter Brennan wrote - all she needs to do is find it. Where could that damn letter be? It should be somewhere in this damn house.
Lost in her thoughts; she is wrecking her once organized bedroom in search for that wretched letter once again, that is the only thing that could stop the demise that surely would come. Then there is a light knock on her door, "Madam, there is a man here to see you."
Cora goes to open the door. "Enith, I recall telling you that I did not want to be bothered."
Enith had told the man as much but he had insisted, and now she was getting on her boss's bad side and no one should ever be there. "The man said it was very important and that he would not leave until he could speak with you. He said it was either you or Mr. Jones."
That comment caught Cora's attention. "Did he at least say who to announce?"
"He said to tell you that he is a Good Samaritan, once, a long time ago."
"Oh, is that all he said?" The only Good Samaritan Cora could think of was the one that found Brennan after his accident. This could mean trouble. She barely contains one threat.
She finally makes it to the office. It is a good thing she saw Emma taking a walk with Jones earlier.
"I hope you are not here in hopes of a reward for helping my dead husband home years ago."
"Please, allow me to introduce myself before you start berating me. Malcolm Peters." He offers her his hand, which she rebuffs. She notices a pair of bags next to him but doesn't waste her time in acknowledging them.
"Get to the point. What do you want after all these years?" She sits up regally in the chair.
"Well, after that mournful day I enjoyed success in a town not that far from here. Sadly, even with great success, a sudden bad luck streak can shatter even the most successful person." He is looking at the contents of the office, the wealth displayed is obvious.
"Please, explain, what does that have to do with me?"
"The explanation is actually very simple when I found your husband's body. I tried to assess his injuries before moving him and found a very interesting letter, do I need to continue?"
"What do you want?"
"I want a mere reward for keeping quiet. After all, it is a very interesting tale. Perhaps your steward would like to hear it? Isn't his name Killian Jones, or should I say, Booth?"
Cora turns pale; she thought maybe he was bluffing. "All you want is money?"
"I also want housing and a job." Malcolm smiles at her.
"I doubt you want to be a mere worker, but since the steward position is taken that is all I can offer."
"I'm sure you can think of something and you will if you want that bit of knowledge to stay hidden."
"Where should I put my bags?"
"I will have Enith fix you a room. At least my son isn't here and I will not need to come up with any explanation."
She gets up and leaves the room. She soon finds Enith and requests the room for Mr. Peters.
It doesn't take long for Milah to convince August that they need to head back to Misthaven. "I thought you would be happy with the pairing?" August smiles tightly at the comment. In reality, he honestly thought it would never happen; Emma was bound to the convent and Killian was a notorious womanizer. "I suppose you are correct, I just didn't think it was truly a possibility."
He supposes it is his fault, he did put them in the situation together. It bothers him and that is confusing.
"My aunt surely sounds distressed over the news." She lifts the message and rereads it for the millionth time. "Do you think we will make it in time?"
"I honestly don't know, the trip is long, I specifically chose this route because I wanted to take a long trip with my lovely bride. Now I'm afraid it may be counterproductive." They had rushed to pack their belongings and now finally found themselves back on the road.
Milah cannot believe that Killian would do this to her; betray her in the most heinous way possible, he knows of her distaste for her pampered, insipid cousin. How could he do this or even think about it? What of their plans?
She hopes they make it in time; she will not lose Killian to Emma.
Emma and Killian are enjoying a walk, heading towards her favorite spot, the flower bed. He has been so quiet lately.
"Love, what do you expect of our marriage?" He scratches the back of his ear.
"I don't know, I haven't really thought of it. I, uh-" She gets flustered." I suppose, I just want us to be friends."
"Friends, love? I think there will be some more intimate situations between us, which friends don't share." He raises his eyebrow and smiles.
"Oh, I know that, but I just don't want us to lose the friendship we have been able to build in such a short time."
They stop walking once they have reached their destination. He takes his coat off and arranges it on the ground and reaches for her hand to help her down. They lay on top of the coat and are surrounded by beautiful fragrant flowers.
He turns to her and cups her face gently as he slowly leans in to kiss her. Soon the kiss escalates as he finds himself on top of her slightly pushing her legs apart with a nudge from his knee. He can hear her breathing speed up to match his and it only fuels his need for more.
Suddenly, he feels her hands push him off and she is on her feet and running back to the house.
He lays on his coat and covers his face with his forearm. That was unexpected. He likes kissing Emma a little too much for his taste.
Emma is about to walk into her room and then she hears her mother's soft voice. "Emma, are you okay? You look flushed." Her mother is looking at her with such concern.
"Yes, I think the heat got to me." She doesn't want to tell her mother exactly which heat she is talking about.
"Oh, I could ask Enith to bring you some water to cool off?" Snow smiles at her.
"No, it's fine. I feel better now."
"Sweetheart, I am your mother and no one else knows you better."
"It is nothing." She avoids her mother's knowing eyes.
"I had asked for you but I was told you went on a walk with Mr. Jones. I was hoping to meet him."
"You want to meet him?"
"Well, you seem adamant in marrying him and he is going to be my son-in-law."
"Oh, I can arrange a meeting. I could go fetch him if you'd like." Emma's mind goes back to the kiss.
"Emma, you are blushing again. What is it?"
She takes a breath before answering. "Well, we kissed."
"Oh, then I do need to meet this man. No more kisses Emma. You know very well that it is not very appropriate behavior to be alone with him and now you tell me it has been more than that." Snow smiles and shakes her head in disbelief, her daughter has always been so proper and now she acts so differently. She doesn't know if it is to be applauded or feared.
"It was just a kiss mother."
"Yet you turn beet red every time you think of it."
"Emma, I'm willing to meet him. I would have preferred for your wedding to take place after your father's return but since I hear things are moving extremely fast; I will at least meet him." Maybe she can reason with Killian Jones and convince him that a long engagement would be better.
Emma and her mother are soon on their way to the living area and find themselves sitting while they wait for Killian to make his presence known.
Killian walks inside; the ring burning a hole in his pocket. He wanted to give her the ring at the flower bed she enjoys so much, but he had ruined the moment.
Emma stands up and clears her throat. He stops mid-walk and approaches them.
"Killian Jones, please allow me to introduce to you my mother, Snow Nolan."
He bows slightly. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady." He takes her hand and kisses it.
"Thank you. I will get to the point. I think you two are rushing into marriage. I think it would be better to wait for my husband's return to proceed."
"Mother, I thought you said you would be open to the marriage." She notices her mother studying Killian as if he were familiar to her.
"No, I said I was willing to meet him and I have. One more thing, Mr. Jones I hope you know that there will be no more kisses. No more walks without a chaperone. Nothing as such until the wed-"
Emma stops her from continuing. "Mother, you never put those restrictions on Milah and August. You will not put them on us."
"Emma! I'm only doing this on your behalf, for your protection."
"No, I will no longer be treated like a child. Please, be honest, if I wanted to marry any other man you wouldn't be so eager to enforce proper protocol."
Snow glances at Killian once more and that is the moment she realizes who he reminds her of, Brennan Booth.
"If Emma wants to wait, I will not oppose."
"Good, it shouldn't be long. I have sent a message to Milah as well."
"You did what?" Emma closes her eyes. "Killian, I thank you for offering to wait but we will proceed as planned. Mother, I will not be waiting for my father to arrive. It was his decision to leave the family after all. No one asked him to abandon us in the pursuit of money. Milah shouldn't have been bothered. Oh, but your intention was another wasn't it. You were trying to thwart the wedding. I will only say this, mother, I love you but you will not be changing my mind or delaying anything. In a few days, I will be Killian's wife." She reaches out for his hand and his automatic response is to entwine their fingers together.
Emma can only think that Milah knows of the wedding and she soon will have to face her. She looks at Killian for a reaction at the mention of Milah. The thought that he would change his mind upon Milah's return scares her.
Killian is reminded of the reason for his presence at the Booth's Estate and who truly holds Emma's heart.
Snow is standing there shocked at her daughter's attitude. She stands up with as much dignity as she can muster and leaves.
"Emma love, are you okay?"
"Sorry, I thought that she was coming along. Why did you say that, that you would wait to get married?"
"I thought it was the right thing to say."
She tilts her head and smiles. She had noticed a change in his demeanor at the mention of her cousin's name.
"Since you are so eager to be my wife, how about we do this properly?" He drops to his knee and holds out the ring. "Emma Nolan, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Emma gasps and she shakily puts out her hand so he can place the ring. "Yes, I will marry you." She laughs as he puts the ring on her finger. "You do remember that I asked first?"