The week that followed was more challenging for Emma, and not just because a patch of rainy weather and a flurry of activity at work prevented her and the kids from dining al fresco with Killian each night.

On Wednesday evening, when Emma picked Hope up late from daycare again (as she drove there, she could literally hear a cash register 'ding' with the extra money she'd have to pay them for every late minute that ticked by), one of the teachers told Emma that Hope had been refusing to take the usual afternoon nap.

"She's been complaining about bad dreams, and she says she's afraid to go to sleep," the teacher, Melanie, told Emma as they packed up Hope's stuff. The tired little girl leaned against Emma's legs as the adults talked.

"She has been having some bad dreams at night," Emma noted. "But isn't she getting to the point where she doesn't need to nap during the day? My son cut his out around this age. Maybe she could just look at a book and have some quiet time?"

Melanie smiled patiently and gestured to the sleepy-looking Hope, "Honestly, she seems like she could still use the rest, especially if she's waking up at night. But it would be fine if she would rest or read quietly while other kids slept...it's just that, this week, she's been a little disruptive at nap time."

"Oh no, I'm sorry," Emma said, thinking, "Dammit."

"Yeah, each day, after she said she couldn't sleep, she did start to try to flip through a book we'd give her, but after a couple of minutes, she decided it would be more fun to start whispering stories to other children who were starting to fall asleep." Melanie's tone became a little less polite and a little more crisp as she continued, "I didn't hear all the stories, but according to some of the other kids, they were quite...exciting, something about pirates and and a giant squid. At any rate, it prevented some of the other children from getting a good nap, so we ended up with some tired and cranky kids this afternoon."

Emma looked down at Hope, still leaning against her legs. The tired little girl mustered a sweet smile, and with her round pink cheeks, dimpled chin, and adorable little nose, she would have looked angelic if not for the usual little glint of impishness in those blue eyes. Then, as if to taunt Emma just a little bit more, Hope raised her right eyebrow just a tiny bit above her left. When the hell had she started doing that?

Emma turned back to the teacher and said, "I'm really sorry she was disruptive. Hopefully this nightmare thing is just a phase that she needs to get through. I'll talk to her about making sure she respects the rules to be quiet at nap time."

Melanie nodded and thanked her, and Emma and Hope headed out to the car. Emma asked a few questions about the day, but Hope mostly just shrugged or said "I don't remember" in response. Emma was a little annoyed at the daycare teachers. Like, was this really the first time a kid would rather chat than sleep at nap time? Shouldn't they have strategies to deal with it?

Her irritation didn't abate much as they headed home, and her stress level spiked as soon as she walked in the door and was confronted with a new problem from Henry.

"Mom," he said, before she could even put her bag and Hope's backpack down and direct the little girl to go use the bathroom. "What's the plan for tomorrow night? Did you get a sitter?"

Goddammit.

Henry had his presentation on his summer research project at school tomorrow night in the auditorium, and he really wanted her to attend and be able to watch and pay attention without the inevitable distraction that his younger sister would provide. Emma was supposed to have asked one of the daycare teachers if they would want to babysit Thursday evening for some extra cash, but she had forgotten.

Now, she would have to text all three of Hope's teachers and beg someone to do her a favor on short notice during a week in which her daughter was being a bit of troublemaker. She grimaced at the idea, but she had to try.

"Right, kid," she told Henry. "I need to text Hope's teachers. Hopefully someone is available."

Henry took a deep breath, apparently to tamp down his irritation, but he couldn't control his scowl.

Emma felt bad. He was still relatively new to this school, and he probably wanted to make a good impression on his teachers and classmates, not just through his presentation, but by having a mom who wasn't stressed and harried and chasing after his much younger sister during the whole event.

She grabbed her phone and started looking up contacts when Henry was apparently struck by an idea.

"You know," he said, "if none of her teachers are free, maybe we could ask Killian to stay with her."

Emma looked up from her phone and blinked at him. She had to admit, it had kind of sucked not seeing Killian at all so far this week, and she wouldn't mind having an excuse to talk to him. But, on the other hand, he had already done her a huge favor by treating them to the museum and lunch on Saturday, and she felt like it was her turn to do right by him again, not ask for another favor. Also, as much as she liked him, he was a single man with no children (as far as she knew) that they had just met. She wasn't going to leave him home alone with her kid already.

"I don't know, kid, it seems too soon to ask him to do that. We really don't know him that well."

"Well," Henry replied, and Emma could practically see the gears turning in his head, "what if we invited him to come with us? He and Hope could sit in the back or something, or if she gets restless and wants to walk around in the lobby, he can take her so you don't have to leave your seat."

Emma thought about it. It was a pretty good idea. She definitely didn't hate the idea of having a reason to spend more time with Killian, and Hope had asked a couple times this week when they were going to see him again. She really wanted to be able to do this for Henry. He took on so much for her; did so much babysitting himself for his much younger sibling when Emma had to work late or go on a stakeout. She owed him one.

Hope had returned to the living room and heard the end of Emma and Henry's conversation. "Is Killian coming too-mah-wow?" she asked excitedly.

Emma sighed, "We'll see, honey. I have to ask him."

So that was it; she was on the hook as the two kids looked at her expectantly. She asked Henry to heat up some leftovers for him and Hope and then headed across the hall.

When Killian answered his door, it gave her a little thrill to see the smile that lit up his face upon seeing her. "Good evening, Swan," he said cheerfully, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She couldn't help but smile in return, despite being nervous about asking him for a favor. She declined his invitation to come inside, explaining that she had to get back to give the kids dinner, and then she explained her predicament for tomorrow night.

He listened carefully and smiled warmly when she apologetically asked him to join them so that she had help with Hope, promising that she'd owe him a favor. He cocked his eyebrow a little bit mischievously at that, and instead of being annoyed, Emma felt the tiniest bit of gooseflesh rise pleasantly on her arms in response to his sly innuendo.

"I would be honored to join you all," Killian said when she finished talking. "Thank you for thinking of me. I'll make sure I show Lady Hope a good time while you and Henry are occupied."

"Okay, great," Emma said with real relief. Henry would be thrilled. Emma would be happy to be able to give him her full attention, and Hope would get to go on an adventure with her gallant new friend instead of sitting through two hours of mumbly high schoolers droning on about the future of technology. "Thanks a ton; I really mean it. I will make it up to you."

"Please, don't think anything of it," Killian replied. "I'm looking forward to it,"

Emma heard a commotion in her kitchen through the open door behind her, so she told Killian they'd leave from the apartments tomorrow at 6:15, and then she hurriedly took her leave before Henry dropped dinner.

At 6:05 the following evening, Killian Jones finished buttoning his favorite dark blue button-down shirt and double checked to make sure his brace was secure. He looked in the mirror and carefully mussed his hair one more time, and then rolled his eyes and smirked at himself.

He was acting like a nervous lad getting ready for a date, when he was actually tagging along as a babysitter to a woman who had built up a lifetime's worth of mistrust of men like him.

Still, Emma didn't seem like the type of person to easily ask for favors, and he was flattered that she trusted him enough to ask him to keep an eye on Hope for the evening. He couldn't recall the last time he had been as excited about anything as he had been about the opportunities he'd had to spend time with Emma and her family over the last week or so.

Moving to his entryway, he pulled on his boots, grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet, and stepped across the hall to knock on Emma's door.

Henry answered. He looked handsome, if a bit nervous, wearing tan pants and a blue sport coat with a white button-down shirt.

"Hello, lad," Killian greeted him cheerfully, "Are you ready to dazzle everyone with your extensive knowledge of, wait, what's the topic again?"

Henry groaned, "Future practical applications of Artificial Intelligence technology."

"Right, that."

"Yeah, I guess I am. I hope it's not too boring. A.I. seems much more interesting when it comes in the form of droids in "Star Wars," but I don't think I could get away with a whole slideshow on C-3PO."

Killian smirked in response as he stepped inside the apartment, and Henry stepped away to pack up his materials. Emma and Hope then rushed in from one of the bedrooms, Emma still grabbing at a barrette that had apparently come loose (or had never fully made it into) Hope's bouncy blonde hair.

Emma stopped when she saw him, apparently giving up on taming her daughter's big, loose curls as the little girl ran to Killian and threw her arms around his legs.

"Hi Killian!" she cried. "We're going to Henry's school!"

He looked down at the girl, who pulled back from him and beamed up at him with excitement. He glanced up quickly at Emma, who was starting at him with an unreadable expression. She looked beautiful, having eschewed her usual jeans and plain tops for a silky, short sleeved, navy blue wrap dress with a small white floral print. Her hair was was pulled back in a loose ponytail that fell down her back in soft waves.

She was breathtakingly lovely, and it took him a moment to gather himself before he could look down again to address his "date" for the evening.

"Good evening, my lady," he said gallantly to Hope. "Are you ready for our adventure?"

"Aye, aye, Captain Matey!" Hope exclaimed in response as she continued to grin at him.

"Yeah, I guess she's been watching a lot of 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' on Disney Jr. lately..." Emma explained, still a little embarrassed that Killian might think Hope was associating his disability with pirates.

"A fine choice!" Killian replied. "Shall we go? Can I help carry anything?"

"I think we're good!" Emma replied, turning to Henry and straightening his collar. "Let's go!"

It was a nice evening, and Emma's car was parked a few blocks away from the building, so they just walked to Henry's school, with Emma pushing Hope in her stroller. When they arrived,
Emma parked the stroller in a corner of the lobby in front of the auditorium and turned to say a few words of encouragement to Henry.

The lad nodded confidently, but his eyes betrayed his nervousness. Killian leaned conspiratorially down to Hope and said quietly, "Perhaps your brother could use a hug and some good luck wishes from his younger sister."

The little girl nodded and bounced over to Henry, tapping his leg to get his attention and then opening her arms for a hug. "Good luck, Henry!" she cried.

Henry broke into a grin as he leaned down, picked her up, and embraced her tightly. "Thanks, kid," he replied into her ear.

Killian wished the lad luck as well, and then the boy turned to follow a teacher and his classmates down a corridor that Killian supposed would take him backstage where they would wait their turns to present.

The auditorium was starting to fill up with families of the other junior class members who were presenting their summer research projects tonight. As they made their way inside, Killian realized that his palm was sweating slightly. He was nervous.

Killian Jones had never been short on confidence in social situations, even after he had lost his hand. He knew that he was charming and devilishly handsome, and he had no trouble maintaining his outward swagger despite the demons he carried inside. However, in this school, among all these respectable, hard working parents who cared for their children and were actively taking part in their education, he felt humbled and out of place.

The last decade of his life had passed in a blur of reckless, and sometimes even lawless behavior. Sure, he could point to his past tragedies as an excuse for straying from the path his beloved brother had carefully laid out for him, but deep down he knew that it had been up to him; he had made the choices that caused him to drift away from respectability. As he glanced up at the magnificent woman walking ahead of him, he knew that she certainly could have made excuses to indulge in selfish, reckless behavior, but instead, she had stayed strong and true and created a wonderful life for her children. He felt awed by her and ashamed of himself.

In his moment of self doubt, he noticed a little tug on his hook, and looked down to see Hope's small hand gripping it tightly. She smiled up at him, sweetly, but with her usual hint of mischief, as if she was fully aware of her powers to charm him. And how charmed he was. Emma, still leading the way and holding Hope's other hand, glanced back at her daughter and their new friend and smiled slightly before turning back to look for seats. Suddenly, Killian's feelings of insecurity and awkwardness were replaced by a swell of pride to be in this place, seemingly accepted as belonging there by this adorable little girl and her stunning mother.

There were three seats at the end an aisle on the right side of the auditorium towards the front, and Emma suggested that the three of them start out by sitting together, but that Killian could take Hope for a walk when she inevitably became bored or got too chatty.

Soon the lights dimmed, and one of the eleventh grade teachers came out to introduce the program. The teacher explained that members of the junior class who were studying computer science this year were going to present their summer research projects on the future of technology. Killian had gathered through his conversations with Emma that, because Henry had recently changed schools (he was fuzzy on the reasons), he'd only had a few weeks to prepare for this, but that the lad had worked really hard to make up for lost time.

Before the teacher could even introduce the first student, Hope began to squirm in her seat and sigh loudly, and Emma and Killian exchanged looks. When Hope loudly whispered, "This is boring!" Killian knew that it was time to go. He took her hand and grinned at Emma, who smiled apologetically.

Hope stage whispered, "Bye, Mom!" as she hopped out of her seat to go with Killian.

Fortunately, there were some activities out in the lobby to keep them occupied. When they'd arrived, Killian had spotted a table set up with a bake sale to benefit the school and had quietly confirmed with Emma that it was ok for him to get Hope a cookie while they were waiting.

The little girl was delighted when he led her over to the bake sale, and she made quite a show of choosing between chocolate chip or sugar (iced with bright purple frosting.) "Hmm, which one would I liiiiiiike..." she kept repeating, with as much seriousness as if she was an adult contemplating a major purchase, like a new car. In the end, Killian bought both, with the understanding that she could save one for tomorrow after school.

Hope chose to eat the chocolate chip cookie right then, munching on it as they began to wander around the rest of the auditorium's lobby. Killian watched her carefully, and she held onto his hook as they walked, leaving his hand free to periodically dab with a napkin at the crumbs and smears of chocolate that gathered on her chin and the sides of her little mouth as she ate.

The walls of the lobby and an adjacent hallway were colorfully decorated with various paintings and drawings from some of the high school's art classes, and Killian and Hope entertained themselves by checking them out one by one. If anything was particularly colorful or interesting, Hope would ask to be picked up for a closer look, and he would carefully lift her, making sure not to jostle her precious cookie.

Killian couldn't ever remember being around a child this age, and he found the smart, vibrant little girl to be a marvel. When she was excited about something she saw, her enthusiasm radiated off her. She was completely absent of any of the cynicism or self consciousness that constrained older children and adults more and more as they aged. Whether it was her cookie ("deeeee-licious!"), or a beautiful chalk drawing a very talented art student had done of mallard ducks swimming in a pond, Hope just LOVED things, wholly and openly.

He was enchanted by her more and more with each passing second.

When the cookie was long gone, and they had stopped at the water fountain and checked out every piece of artwork twice, he received a text from Emma that Henry was about to go on. Hope, who had begun yawning frequently, agreed to sneak back inside with him to watch her brother. The seats next to Emma were still open, so they quietly made their way to her and sat down as Henry took the stage.

Killian glanced over at Emma, who held Hope's hand in her left hand but tapped the fingers of her right nervously on her armrest as she watched Henry bring up his first slide on the screen and begin his talk about A.I.

Killian could tell that Henry was still nervous, but he also clearly had command of his subject matter, and he relaxed considerably after the one C-3PO joke he'd included in his talk went over well with crowd. Even Hope watched him closely, periodically waving to her brother even though he most likely couldn't see her in the dark.

When Henry finished, the crowd applauded warmly, and Emma released Hope's hand and sprung out of her seat to give her son her own little standing ovation. Hope stood up too and clapped wildly. Emma was radiantly beautiful in this state of elation, and Killian realized he was openly staring at her and grinning like a fool. He turned away just as she glanced back at him, a little embarrassed by her own display, and sat back down in her seat.

Before the next student took the stage, Emma leaned across Hope and whispered to Killian, "Hey, I'm ready to take off. I got a couple of work texts a little bit ago, and I need to go deal with something."

She then whispered to Hope that it was time to go, and the three of them briskly made their way to the exit, Emma whisking Hope into arms halfway up the aisle so that the tired little girl didn't slow them down.

When they got to the lobby, Emma asked Hope if she'd had a good time, and she enthusiastically replied that she'd had a "GREAT" time. "I got two cookies!" she added.

Emma raised an eyebrow at Killian, who clarified, "Well, one is for tomorrow after school."

"Got it. OK, Hope honey, we should stop at the bathroom and then I'm going to try to get Henry so we can head home. Mommy needs to go do some work."

"You need to work tonight?" Killian asked.

Emma sighed, "Yeah. Max texted and left me a voicemail. One of the contacts we'd called asking about a skip called in a tip on where the guy might be staying. Max wants me to stake the place out to see if I can catch the guy coming home. I'm just going to drop the kids off and run back out." She winced, "Unfortunately, I got the texts a little while before Henry spoke, so I may already be too late."

"Emma, if you're okay with it, I'd be happy to see Hope and Henry home safely so that you could leave straight from here," he suggested, prepared for her refusal. Despite the easy rapport and comfort they'd established with each other so quickly, he was still a very new friend to them.

He was pleasantly surprised, though, when she appeared to consider it. She looked at Hope, who was standing close to Killian, leaning against his legs slightly the way she to Emma did when she was tired.

"It would save me some time, to be honest," Emma conceded. "My car is actually parked closer to here, and I have the stuff I need in there already." At that, Killian assumed she meant a weapon, like a taser or perhaps even a firearm locked in the glove box.

"It's no problem at all," he encouraged. "Really, I'm going there anyway, obviously. I'm happy to see them into the apartment and make sure they get settled."

She relented, checking the time again on her phone and then springing into action mode. "Okay, let's do it. Okay with you, Hope?"

"Great with me!"

"Perfect," Emma replied to her daughter. "Ok, quick bathroom stop for us." She turned to Killian. "Would you mind running backstage to see if you can get Henry? If the teachers ask why he needs to leave, tell them I had an emergency."

Killian saluted (for Hope's benefit) and headed in the direction she'd indicated. He actually ran into Henry on the way, since the program was winding down and students were starting to file out.

They rejoined Emma and Hope and headed out of the school building. After a couple of blocks, Emma needed to turn down a side street to where her car was parked so that she could head to her stakeout. She hugged and kissed her kids quickly and congratulated Henry again for a job well done.

When she turned to Killian, he saw a mixture of guilt and nervousness in her eyes, and it gave his heart a painful little twist.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked him,

"Swan, it's perfectly fine. Go get your skip. I'll text you as soon as they're back safely in your apartment."

She gave him a small smile and nodded, smiled more broadly at the kids one last time, and then disappeared into the night.

The walk home was uneventful. Hope was quiet in the stroller, likely close to nodding off, and Killian chatted with Henry about his presentation and the rest of the school year thus far.

When they reached their building, Henry was gracious enough to fold the stroller after Killian lifted Hope out of it (there was no way he could have figured out that contraption.)

On their way to the stairs, they had to pass the building's two first floor apartments, and the door to Mrs. Xavier's unit cracked open as they passed. Killian caught Henry rolling his eyes as he noticed the elderly woman poking her head out.

"Oh, hello!" she greeted them. "Late night for you kids, isn't it?"

Henry and Killian, who was still holding a now more alert Hope, turned to the woman with resignation. They were caught in her trap.

Killian wasn't good at guessing ages, but he thought that "Mrs. X." as Hope called her, was probably in her early eighties. Her frizzy gray hair seemed to have thinned over the years, and it stuck out from her head like the light fuzz of a dandelion. Her skin was wrinkled and liver spotted. She was already very short, and she stooped over slightly in her turquoise housecoat, and she had to crane her neck significantly to look at the tall boy and man in front of her.

When he looked at her eyes, Killian noticed, as he had the first time he'd met her, that they were a very unique color. He supposed one would call them hazel, but the brownish-orange sections around her pupils were so large and so orange, that it truly looked like she had orange eyes.

"Yeah," Henry replied to her question, "I had a thing at school tonight."

"Oh, how nice. Is your mother parking the car?"

Killian was about to chime in that indeed she was, just to get out of the conversation, when Hope spoke up, "No, she had to go to work. Killian took us home!"

"I see..." the woman said, casting a skeptical eye to Killian and then addressing Hope again. "And how do you like your butterfly, young miss?"

"I still like it," Hope replied politely, but Killian noticed that her arms, which had been flung carelessly around his neck as he held her, tightened at bit around him.

The woman smiled in response, but Killian detected a false note to it.

"We really should be getting the little one up to bed," Killian said, as he and Henry each took a step closer to the stairs. "Goodnight, Mrs. Xavier."

She either didn't hear him, couldn't read body language, or just didn't care, because she continued to probe. "It's nice of you to help Miss Swan with the children. Must be so hard, being on her own with them."

"Well, we've all become fast friends, and it's really no trouble for me. Goodnight." Henry led the way, and Killian followed him up the stairs.

"Have a lovely evening," she called, but it was several seconds before he heard the door shut below them.

He felt bad rushing off; she was just a lonely old woman. But he resented that she was clearly implying that Emma was being irresponsible by letting him take the kids home. This woman didn't know them, and it wasn't her concern.

Plus, as lovely as it was that sweet Hope trusted him to carry her into the building and up the stairs, she was getting awfully heavy, and he needed to get her upstairs and put her down before his arms gave out.

When they got up to Emma's apartment, Killian gently set Hope down near the kitchen. She asked for a cup of water, so he found one of her pink straw cups from the drying rack and filled it with water from the Brita pitcher he found in the fridge. Henry went to hang up his sport coat and put his school stuff away.

As he watched Hope drink and looked around the tiny but neat-as-could-be-expected kitchen, Killian suddenly felt awkward. He really hadn't ever been in Emma's apartment for any meaningful amount of time, so he certainly wasn't comfortable there, but now, he felt strange about the idea of just dropping off the children and leaving.

It wasn't that he didn't think Henry was perfectly capable of babysitting; the boy was almost grown. Killian just felt...protective of them. Something about the encounter with the old woman downstairs hadn't sat well with him. Plus, even though he knew that Emma could take care of herself very well, the idea of her sitting alone in a dark car, waiting to apprehend some lowlife in a bad neighborhood made him a bit sick in his gut. The children were probably used to this, but he wondered if they worried about her on nights like tonight.

Hope finished her drink with a comically audible "Ahhhh."

Killian chuckled at her as Henry returned from his and Hope's bedroom. "Okay, kiddo," Henry said, "time to brush teeth and get pajamas on. It's past your bedtime!"

"OK, but then can Killian read me a story?"

"Hope, it's late, and I'm sure Killian needs to go home."

"But I always get story, and I want him to read Let's Go for a Drive!"

Henry seemed tired, the adrenaline from the evening's public speaking event clearly having worn off, and he raised his eyebrows questioningly to Killian. "It might be easier to just do it. That book isn't very long."

"Well, then I'd be happy to read, Let's Go for a Drive. Lead the way, miss!"

Despite the tiredness that shown through in her eyes, Hope managed to smile at him brightly, reaching for his hand and leading them back to her and Henry's room. Henry found the book for him, then took Hope to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into pajamas. As Killian looked around the kids' room, he noticed that, as expected, it was a hodgepodge of décor given the vast age differences between the siblings. The fateful Neverland poster hung on an otherwise bare wall over Henry's bed. On the opposite wall, over Hope's bed, was a small wall-mounted shelf that contained a sweet framed photo of the family of three, plus her newly acquired preserved butterfly.

Each child had a desk at the end of their single bed, and while Henry's was covered with folders, books, and an older looking laptop, Hope's contained a smattering of jaunty sheets of stickers, construction paper, and crayons. Killian found himself wistfully wondering what kind of things she liked to draw, and whether she'd ever grace him with a piece of art.

When the children returned, Henry led Hope to her bed and settled onto his own to peruse his phone.

Hope made herself comfortable in her tiny cream colored toddler bed, which looked like an Ikea special. Killian settled onto the floor next to the bed, his back supported against the wall by a blue throw pillow with a picture of a familiar cartoon snowman on it.

When they were both settled comfortably, Killian began the story, which was a lively interplay between a cartoon elephant and pig, who enthusiastically gathered everything they could possibly need for a road trip (maps, suitcases, sunglasses, umbrellas etc.) before finally realizing that neither of them had a car. As he read, he invented comical voices for both characters that made Hope giggle. Hope snuggled closer to the edge of the bed, so that by the end of the story, she was resting her head on his shoulder.

When he finally got to the last page, which revealed that Elephant and Piggie had used all their road trip supplies to instead craft an elaborate pirate ship, Hope sat up in her bed and clapped her hands together with delight. "They're going to play pirates!" she said excitedly, her r's still sounding charmingly like w's.

"Ohhh...right, that's why you wanted that one," Henry noted from his bed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty into pirates right now," she replied matter of factly.

Henry rolled his eyes. Killian chuckled. He was completely charmed that the little girl was apparently associating him with fictional pirates; he was even flattered. He rose to his feet so that he could bid the kids good night.

"I'll be right across the hall," he told Henry. "Please don't hesitate to knock if you need anything." He paused and added, "I can even stay on the couch here and just read or watch TV until your mom gets back?"

"No, that's okay," Henry replied. "We're fine. She just texted me that she hasn't had any luck yet, and if the guy doesn't show by one, she's going to assume she missed him or that the tip was bad."

One in the morning still sounded late to Killian, but he didn't want to impose if this was their routine.

"All right," he said. "Good night, then. Henry, outstanding job tonight. I certainly know about a thousand per cent more about Artificial Intelligence than I did previously."

Henry smirked and thanked him in response. He rose to walk Killian out.

Killian turned to Hope and knelt down next to her bed. "Goodnight, lass. Thank you for a lovely evening!"

"Thanks for the cookies!" Hope said tiredly. Her head was already resting on her pillow and her eyes were beginning to close.

"I'll make sure your mum knows we left the extra on the kitchen counter for tomorrow."

"Kay. See you tomorrow." With that, she reached across and gently patted his hook and brace, which he'd rested on the edge of her bed. Once again, the sweet gesture of acceptance by the little girl filled his heart with feeling, and he nodded a final goodnight to her before heading out of the room with Henry at his heels.

Before he left the apartment, he reminded Henry to knock if he needed anything (Henry actually rolled his eyes this time, so Killian figured he was fine.)

When he got home, the first thing he did was remove his boots, and the second thing he did was text Emma a summary of the rest of their evening, hoping to ease her mind and to fill in any blanks Henry had left in his communications with her.

Emma was cold. She kept a spare jacket in her car for these kinds of occasions, but fall was definitely in the air tonight, and the leather wasn't doing much to compensate for the fact that she was wearing a summery dress instead of her usual jeans and sweater.

It was nearly midnight, and the Dunkin Donuts coffee she'd procured on the way East Boston, supposed destination of one Edward Einhorn, bail jumper; sat in her cupholder, getting colder as well as the minutes ticked by. When she had started working with Max, she agreed that she could take on most of the late night stakeouts. Henry was both mature and wonderfully understanding about his default role as Hope's babysitter, but she still felt pangs of guilt at how much he had to take on.

Tonight, at least she'd had the added comfort that Killian had seen the kids home safely, even going so far as to read Hope a story before bed, according to the update texts from him and Henry.

As Emma thought about their time with Killian over the past two weeks, the cynical side of mind kept looking for his flaw or his angle. But she couldn't find it. If he was a creep in sheep's clothing who was just pretending to be nice, he was also a master at hiding it. Emma considered her ability to read people and identify when they were lying as one of her greatest strengths, her "superpower," and this guy just wasn't triggering her natural lie detector.

Not only that, after he had texted her around ten with his initial summary of the trip home with the kids, he'd continued to text back and forth with her over the course of the evening, asking questions about her work and cracking corny jokes that made her snort to herself with laughter.

He was really helping her to pass the time, and she appreciated this low key way to get to know him a little bit more, even if they were only touching on light topics, like who was the most obnoxious history snob at his work (a PhD candidate named Elliot) and what was her favorite stakeout food (greasy grilled cheese, of course.)

Now that it was so late, though, and because he had to be at work in the morning, Emma had started to feel like he was actually waiting up for her, and she definitely did not need that additional layer of guilt.

E: Hey, it's getting kind of late you know. As much as I appreciate it, you don't have to keep me company.

K: Is that what I'm doing? Who says its not you that's keeping me company?

E: Awww, cute. Really, it's ok, go to bed. If this guy doesn't show within the next 45 minutes, I'm calling it. It won't take me long to get home with no traffic.

He didn't respond for a couple of minutes, and as she started at the dark building in front of her, she wondered again what was going through Killian's mind...was he genuinely worried about her? About the kids? As much as she didn't need someone else looking out for them, it felt nice to suddenly have a backup grownup around.

K: As you wish. Thank you again for this evening, I had a wonderful time. You must be so proud of Henry.

E: I am, and thank YOU! Really, I owe you big time.

She froze after she sent it, wondering if he had raised that eyebrow again in unspoken innuendo. She knew there was an attraction between them; she felt the charged energy radiating between them whenever he was near. But so far, all their time together had centered around the kids.

She realized in that moment that she wanted that to change. As she sat in her cold car, working alone on a dark East Boston street, she decided to give herself permission to do something for herself; to see if there could be something more between them.

She decided to ask him out.

He had texted back again while she had been thinking, politely brushing off her thanks.

E: No really, let me do something for you. Can I take you to dinner? Maybe Saturday? Nothing fancy, just somewhere in the neighborhood. No kids. No worries if you already have plans!

She sent it quickly before she could doubt herself and hesitate, and she rolled her eyes at her rambling words as she read the text back to herself.

It took a minute for the three dots to appear to indicate he was responding. She really didn't doubt that he was going to say yes. As much as he'd been a gentleman, she knew simply from the way that he looked at her that he was interested.

Finally, the dots appeared and he replied.

K: I would love an evening in the pleasure of your company. But may I ask, would you let me plan the evening?

Emma was chagrined.

E: Hey, I know how to plan a date!

K: So it is a date then? (Winking emoji.)

Dammit.

He replied again before she could shoot back a snotty response to his teasing.

K: I have no doubt that you can plan an evening, but I hate to add to your "to do" list given your busy schedule. I'd be happy to find an appropriate spot and make a reservation.

E: All right, deal. But I'm paying. You saved me plenty in babysitting tonight.

K: Fair enough.

E: Good. Go to bed.

K: Yes, milady.

E: (Eyeroll emoji.)

K: Goodnight, Swan.

E: Goodnight.

In the end, Einhorn hadn't shown, and Emma decided to call it at night at one as promised. She'd follow up again tomorrow with the contact who'd called in the tip. Maybe she would head back over here and scope the place out more after she got the kids off to school in the morning.

She found a parking spot a block away from the building (not bad given the lateness of the hour) and headed inside. When she got upstairs, she paused by Killian's door before unlocking her own. They had last texted just after midnight, and she hoped that he had gone to bed, but her intuition and a very dim light radiating from under his door told her that he hadn't.

She sighed and shook her head, and then very noisily jostled her keys in the lock before shutting her door firmly behind her in the hope that he would hear her if he was awake and know she was home safely, but that her sleeping kids would not be disturbed.

Thankfully, when she entered her kids' room to check on them, they were both sleeping peacefully. Emma touched each of them gently as she said a silent goodnight, brushing back Henry's hair from his forehead before turning to her daughter and placing her hand on Hope's chest, feeling her little heart pumping away.

She smiled softly and went to bed.

Hours later, Emma was awakened by Hope's cries. These were sharp and terrified, not her usual nighttime whimpers when she had a bad dream. Emma leapt out of bed and bounded across the hall to check on her. Henry was already kneeling next to the bed, trying to get the little girl's attention, but she had recoiled back towards the wall, crying and wailing "No, no, no!" Her eyes were open, but Emma could tell that she wasn't seeing her or Henry. Her face was a mask of terror.

Horrified, Emma leaned across the bed and grabbed the little girl, pulling her towards her even as she thrashed. She pulled her against her chest and spoke quietly but firmly into her ear. "Hope, honey, it's mommy. I'm right here, you're safe in your room. It's okay. Please wake up!" At that, she pulled back a little to look the girl in the face to see if she had returned to wakefulness. Thankfully, Hope was now awake and staring back at her with recognition in her wet eyes.

"Hi, sweetie," Emma soothed. "You're okay, it was just a dream."

"Geez, that was a bad one," Henry breathed, apparently rattled as well. "Hope, what were you dreaming?"

In response, the little girl just shook her head firmly and burrowed into Emma's chest. After rubbing her back and giving her a few more soothing words, Emma picked up Hope to take her across to her room and told Henry she'd let her sleep in her bed for the rest of the night.

"Good call. Goodnight, Mom," was his tired reply.

Emma carried Hope to the bathroom and gave her a small sip of water from the plastic cup they kept next to the sink. Then, they went into Emma's room, where she laid the girl down in her queen sized bed, and snuggled her close.

"You're okay, baby," Emma said again. Emma's own heartbeat had finally calmed down, and she noticed that Hope's had started to even out again as well, the nightmare hopefully forgotten.

"Yeah, I'm okay," the little girl breathed sleepily.

"Good." Emma replied, watching closely as Hope closed her eyes again.

When Emma thought her daughter had fallen back asleep, she suddenly spoke again, "Is Daddy still here?"

Emma stiffened. Shit.

She considered her next words carefully. "Sweetie, Henry and I are here, just like always."

"Noooo," Hope whined, though still only half-conscious, "Daddy was here. He read me a story. Will he be here tomorrow?"

Emma felt like her breath had been stolen. What the hell was happening? But she managed to respond, "We can see Killian tomorrow, if that's what you mean, but-"

"Good," Hope interrupted and promptly fell asleep.

Emma, however, did not sleep again that night.