Thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It can a bit like throwing words down a well sometimes, so thank you for letting me know you're out there and still interested. So of course I'll keep this going to the end! I appreciate each and every review, and I wrote this up quickly just to say thanks.

...

Killian strolled confidently back into the heart of the party, Emma's hand casually draped over his arm. They stopped for a hug and a laugh with one of Mac's distant cousins, who dashed off to fetch drinks and snacks. Emma sniggered when the drinks appeared and told them to stop treating her like royalty. Everyone stared at her, prompting Killian to lean in and quietly remind her that she was, indeed, royalty.

As if to prove the point, the crowd parted as the lumbering figure of David appeared through the doorway of the sitting room. He nearly ran up to Emma, pulling her out of Killian's arms and into a desperate hug.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "Snow and I were ready to call out a search party."

"Garden," Emma replied, taking a sip of her mint water. She looked blankly at him.

"The garden? We searched the whole thing, twice. What have you been doing?" Emma continued the blank, but meaningful, stare, and let her lack of answer draw out long enough for him to reach the logical answer. "Oh god, don't tell me, actually…" He shot a disapproving look at Killian. "She's a princess," David whispered angrily at the pirate.

"She's a lot of things," Killian nodded noncommittally. "I don't bother reminding her of every one or we'd never get out the door in the mornings."

"I'm his wife," Emma announced in happy whisper, directly into David's ear. "That's one of the things I am."

David turned red at that. "You're what?"

"The necklace," Emma tapped her fingers to it. "Apparently it's a bit more binding than your average bauble." She nodded conspiratorially at her father.

David's right hand tightened on his sword and he fixed his angry glare on Killian. "What?" Killian demanded. "One minute you're all worried that she's carrying a pirate's bastard, and now you're angry that I've married her. I suggest you and Snow have a wee talk amongst yourselves and decide upon a position." He patted David's sword arm. "Besides, the marriage is only valid in Neverland."

"Nope," Emma shook her head. "I still can't budge this clasp. It's valid here, too." She grinned. "Looks like the baby's going to be legitimate despite my best efforts."

David gaped at his daughter and her boyfriend/husband, eyes moving back and forth between their twin smirks. "What does a stuck clasp have to do with this?"

"It's not stuck," Emma explained. "Only my husband can open it."

Killian's cousin laughed out loud at this bit of news and clapped Killian – hard – on the back. Killian stumbled forward a step with the force. "Eh, col gaolta, what else can only you prise open on the wife?" he guffawed.

David went white, then red again. Killian shook his head. "A little respect, mo mhuintir, for the king's daughter," Killian said, with all the gravitas he could muster. "And for my wife, of course." Killian thought about it. "Even if we're not exactly married."

"Are you trying to deny me, husband? Mere hours after you wed me?" Emma looked shocked and upset. She raised her voice so that everyone in the sitting room, and quite a few outside of it, could hear her clearly. Oona appeared in the doorway now and rushed to Emma, pushing past David in the process and poking Killian hard in the chest.

"You best not have upset her! Killian! In her condition."

Emma launched herself into Oona's outstretched arms with full dramatic flair. She managed a few tears. Killian met her gaze over Oona's shoulder. He narrowed his eyes in warning. "Don't try it, Swan," he gritted through his teeth.

"Oona, he claims we're not married!" Emma sobbed onto Oona's shoulder. Oona looked confused and David even more so.

"Emma, you're not married," she said softly. "You didn't want to marry him. All the children saw him ask."

"He married me in Neverland. The necklace sealed our bond," Emma sniffled. Even Killian wondered for a moment if it was an act or hormones.

David perked up at this. "When were you in Neverland?"

"Just now," Emma gasped out, as though struggling for air through the tears. A crowd had gathered in the sitting room and outside the open windows in the square, watching the drama unfold. "The baby saved him from the fairies and now he won't admit that we're married!"

David, initially angry that Killian had somehow wed his daughter in secret, now flew into a rage that his son-in-law was backpedalling on the self-same marriage. Killian stepped forward to take Emma in his arms. They needed to talk. But Oona shoved at him with all her petite might, and David far more effectively dragged him away from Emma.

Will appeared at Killian's shoulder, along with Mac. "Mate, you need to calm this situation down. The crowd outside are solidly Team Emma. They're armed and getting a bit stabby."

Mac nodded urgently. "Make this stop, cousin."

"Emma…" Killian appealed, his voice quiet and level. "Your little charade is getting out of control."

Emma recognised that as his 'talk down the crazy woman' voice. She upped the ante, clinging more tightly to Oona. "He impregnated me! And now he won't even admit that we're married!" Emma wailed, straight into the crowd.

Killian could actually see torches being lit. Torches.

Mac shoved him in the back. "Get on your knees, col gaolta."

Will put both of his hands on Killian's shoulders and pushed downwards. "You bloody well apologise, and loudly, mate. Or we'll be cutting you down from a gallows in the square."

Killian sank to his knees before Emma, who was being supported by Oona as though she might faint at any moment. He caught the mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Emma, my True Love," he announced loud enough for the spectators in the square to hear, "when the fairies in Neverland married us, you made me the happiest man alive. I want everyone here to know that you are my wife."

Emma spun round in Oona's arms, her eyes shining, the necklace picking up every hint of torchlight from the square. "Oh Killy!" she cried happily, only a hint of sarcasm bleeding through, and she held her hands out to him and pulled him to his feet. The crowd cheered wildly. He stepped into her and snogged her well beyond the bounds of propriety to a great deal more cheering. When he pulled back from the kiss, he smiled and touched his forehead to hers.

"You will pay for this, Swan," he murmured, almost imperceptibly. "And 'Killy'? What the hell."

"Killian, we are now officially the best party guests ever. People will be talking about Oona and Mac's party for decades. It will be legendary." She gave him a chaste kiss, to another burst of applause and whistling. She nodded towards David, who now stood with his arm around Snow, both looking on approvingly. "You even made David happy."

"You just risked my neck to, what? Avoid walking down the aisle in a fluffy princess dress?" he retorted with a twist of vindictiveness. "Imagine that… you in white."

"Oh, fuck off, Mr 1000-as-a-conservative-estimate. My intention here was to repay Mac and Oona for their generosity and to get everyone off our backs. And to make David and Snow and the cast of thousands that is the Jones Clann very happy indeed." Emma shrugged.

Killian bent his head to hear and whispered, "But what if I want a wedding?"

Emma reached up to take his face in her hands. She ran her thumb along the line of his cheekbone and moved her gaze from his eyes to his lips and then back again. "I love you so much, Killian." She smiled and kissed him. "But you don't get it. I don't care the tiniest little molecule about marriage. I told you already, you are it for me. Forever. I love you completely. You know that for a fact. And this magic-fairy-dust marriage we blindly fell into, that's more than enough for me. You can call me wife if you like, and if it makes you happy, I'll refer to you as husband. Avoided even the need for a justice of the peace. Done. Dusted." She raised onto her tiptoes to kiss his stunned face again. "And you want a wedding? Please. You're getting a baby. Don't be greedy."

She released him and walked towards the kitchen, where she could make out Henry and Regina in the crowd. He watched her for a moment before following, calling after her, "Did you just tell a pirate not be greedy?"

…

Henry wrapped Emma in a comforting hug when she finally gained the kitchen. Every party guest within touching distance had grabbed her for kiss on the cheek and congratulations. Killian, at her back, found himself shoving away hands that threatened to touch her belly to bestow a blessing on the baby. When one particularly large and drunken man leaned over to do so, Killian smacked the offending hand away in anger and told all in shouting distance to keep their hands off his wife and child. His outburst cooled some of the crowd's congratulatory zeal, and Regina's hand reached out to pull Emma the rest of the way into the kitchen.

"So you married Hook, huh Mom?" Henry laughed.

Emma laughed, too, happy to be reunited with Henry and his guileless optimism. "Actually, it turns out that this necklace is the proposal and ceremony all wrapped in one sparkly package, according to the fairies in Neverland. You're not disappointed, are you?"

"No, I've gotten used to the mad way stuff happens in this family." Henry took a step back and considered the stones. "It's certainly… shiny. Elegant." He nodded his approval. "So that whole show was, well, just for show?"

Emma smiled. "Remember this, kid: sometimes you do stuff just to keep your parents happy."

Henry bounced on the balls of his feet like a much younger child. "Captain Hook's my Dad now," he snorted with laughter. "Excellent. Mom!" He whirled to Regina. "Marry Robin! Then I'll have Captain Hook and Robin Hood as Dads."

With a hug to both his mothers and an impromptu hug for Killian, Henry dashed off in search of his friends.

Regina went quiet and still. She slowly raised her eyes from Henry's wake to Killian, and then something in her expression softened. "Emma, I think the fearsome pirate captain might cry."

"Aye," Killian answer quietly. "I think he might."

…

Hours later, Mac and Oona's house resembled the first morning the Emma had seen it: members of Killian's family passed out drunk on sofas and tables and rugs, gate-crashers asleep in the parlour, and dozens of children curled up next to each other in the bedrooms, still clutching bits of cake and sweets in their unconscious hands.

The moon seemed dull compared to Neverland, but Oona had strung so many tiny lights in the garden that the place seemed magical in its own way. Mac had started a campfire in the middle of the garden and dragged furniture from the sitting rooms near it. So Snow and Charming, Mac and Oona, Will and Belle, Regina, Killian and Emma all wrapped up in woollen blankets and talked around the fire. Killian and Emma explained all that had happened in Neverland and what they knew of Merlin and his location.

"How far is that from here?" Belle asked.

"Marching?" Mac took a thoughtful sip of his whiskey. "Maybe six or seven days, and hard terrain."

"Better to take the Jolly Roger," Killian added. "We were pulled through the portal about a day's journey from the coast, and the road is easier there."

David and Mac started to calculate how many men they'd need for the fight. "If I were Merlin, I might have turned whole villages of people against us. He could have an army under mind control. We may not be able to just stroll up to the invisible castle door."

Emma sat quietly, eyes closed, listening to the drone of the men's voices and the occasional timbre of Killian's comments or questions rumbling through his chest, where she lay her head. Emma knew her own part: she was going in to face Merlin. She'd have Killian, certainly, but facing a magical creature meant she'd essentially be on her own. Killian was rubbing his thumb in unthinking circles over Emma's belly, and she dove deeper into preoccupation. She hoped that whatever the yellow fairy had done, it really would protect the baby. Her daughter, if the fairy's careless word could be believed.

She was shaken from her thoughts when Regina reached for Emma's hand. Regina kept hold of her hand, pulling her away from Killian. He glanced over as Emma slid across the sofa towards Regina's chair. "Emma," Regina said quietly, so quietly in fact that Emma had to scoot closer. "Let me go with you into Merlin's castle. I know that Killian thinks it is his place, but for you to face that wizard, you should have my magic, too. To defend you."

Emma looked back cautiously at Killian. He still had one hand over her ankle as she leaned over the arm of the sofa to speak to Regina. She whispered back to Regina: "That is not going to go over well."

"But you agree, don't you? You're worried. Emma, I can see that you are. So can he. He'll want what's safest for you, even if that's not him."

Emma sighed. "Yes, I agree. You facing Merlin with me makes more sense, I think. And my magic has been a little unpredictable with the pregnancy."

"It's not unpredictable, it's stronger. That baby's magic is bound up in yours."

Emma felt Killian's hand smoothing its way up her calf and then her thigh. "Love," he said, "did you hear your mother's question?"

Emma and Regina turned their attention back to the group. Everyone was looking at them, waiting for an answer to a question they hadn't heard.

"I said, we should leave in one week's time, if Emma is feeling well enough," Snow repeated. "Killian wanted you to rest before we ventured straight into another confrontation."

Emma opened her mouth to say that she was fine, that she didn't need anyone fussing over her, but David, Snow and Regina all quickly agreed that she should sleep and eat for a few days before attempting another long journey. Killian shot her a smug grin.

"Very well," Emma nodded. "I guess it will also take Mac time to find men to accompany us."

David, Mac and Snow said they would begin recruiting when the family sobered up tomorrow morning. Killian pulled Emma back into this arms as the conversation about provisions and arms resumed, and she went willingly. He rearranged the blanket over her feet and shoulders as she snuggled into his warmth. She may not have needed a wedding ceremony, but a few days of honeymoon might be nice.