A/N: Good heavens! This little story has reached 45 favs and over a 100 follows! Simply can't believe your generosity. You all really are the best. I'm totally in awe of how supportive this fandom can be.
The plan is to write a series of individual stories with each set as Emma and Killian at a different age. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions they think might fit nicely in this universe please feel free to PM me. Thank you to all the reviewers who have been so liberal with praise, your kind words are getting me through the hiatus!
Chapter 18: Morning Musings
The brindle puppy that favoured Emma, woke long before his new mistress. As is the way with most puppies, he yawned, stretched and was immediately looking for food and, someone or something, with whom to play.
"Oh no you don't, little man," Snow whispered, as she scooped up the puppy before he could do his little stiff legged, half bounce-half bound all over the bed and wake Emma. "You let her sleep herself out," she said quietly into the puppy's ear. He turned his head and licked her nose and her chin before she jerked her face out of target range. "Come on, you, let's find some one to take you and your friend outside before you leave a present on the floor."
As Snow, carrying the puppy, approached the door to the hallway, the puppy grew more frantic to get down. When she opened the door and looked out, she saw Killian attempting to get his puppy to follow him to the stairwell. Snow closed the door and put the puppy on his feet and followed him over to the young boy. The two puppies greeted each other; all dribbly tongues and wagging tails. They yapped excitedly as they rolled about on the floor.
"You should be sleeping, young man," Snow said. She ruffled his hair and bent to kiss the top of his head.
"I always wake at dawn, and Jib needs to . . . ," Killian paused, unsure if it was bad form to talk to the Queen about his puppy relieving herself. He scratched behind his ear, nervously.
"Find some grass? Yes, so does Emma's pup. You named yours, Jib? Very unusual," Snow said.
"It's a sail on a ship," Killian explained. "I can take both outside, if you want?"
Just then, Snow's maid exited the stairs. She was carrying a small tray on which sat a steaming cup of tea. When she saw the Queen, she walked over.
"Good Morning, Your Majesty. Johanna warned me you were spending the night in with, Her Highness. Should I take this in for you?" Jenny asked.
"No, no, I'll take it," Snow said as she accepted the proffered cup. "Jenny, would you please take the puppies down to the walled garden and let them do what they need to do? When they're done can you ask Mrs Hodge to arrange some food for them. You can pass them on to Betsy and let her know we'll come get them after breakfast."
"Certainly. Will you be taking breakfast in the dining room?" Jenny asked as she picked up Emma's puppy that had come over to lick her boot. She held it close, gently brushing her cheek against the dog's soft head.
"Yes, we will, but leave it for about another hour, thank you." Snow instructed. "Oh, and can you ask Mrs. Hodge to send up a cup of milk each for Emma and Killian, in about half an hour, too? You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Very much, thank you," Killian said. He was beginning to understand that Snow was completely serious about wanting to look after himself and Liam, so he was not surprised at her thoughtful gesture. She smile brightly, but Killian detected the tension in her eyes.
"Right away, Your Majesty," Jenny replied.
Killian picked up Jib and gave her a quick hug before handing her over to Jenny. The young woman had her hands full with the energetic puppies, but Snow knew the newest castle residents were in excellent and caring hands.
"Please come with me, Killian. I need to speak with you and Emma," Snow said, and held out her hand. Killian took the proffered hand and they went to Emma's room. She made Killian lie on the covers next to the sleeping Emma, and pulled a blanket over him while she sat next to the bed.
"You had a rough night. Why don't you close your eyes and see if you can get a just bit more sleep." Gently running her fingers through his dark hair helped Killian drift off. Snow had done a lot of thinking during her sleepless night. Thoughts of another blonde haired angel with deep blue eyes or a dark haired mischief maker with hazel eyes and an impish smile, mingled with fear for Emma. The oscillation of thoughts from happy to ecstatic to worry and back, adding to her exhaustion. She knew what course of action she favoured in regards to Emma's magic, but she was not yet so set on that course that discussion with David couldn't sway her if his opinion differed and, his argument was more compelling. She sighed and wished for the upteenth time that she didn't have to wait for David to come home.
Snow's musings were interrupted when her attention was pulled to the balcony by a fluttering of wings. As they often did, several doves had come to land on the balcony rail and waited for Emma to appear. It was her way to greet them and feed them any crumbs she might had saved from her dinner; mostly by way of dropping them on her clothes rather than by design.
'Perhaps I might be able to hurry, David, home a little,' Snow decided. She went to the balcony door and one of the doves flew to her upraised hand. "Will you wait a moment for me to write a message?" She whispered. The dove cooed and hopped onto her shoulder. She crossed over to Emma's desk and quickly jotted a note.
My Love,
I have wonderful and surprising news to share. Please hurry home. I miss you.
Your Snow
The note was quickly folded and the dove took it off to find David. Snow settled back in her chair and quietly sipped her tea until a gentle knock at the door announced the arrival of the children's milk. Killian jumped to full wakefulness at the knocking. Snow recognised a conditioned response when she saw one, and she hated seeing the initial fear he had in his eyes until he realised where he was. Not wanting to make a big thing of it, but determining to ask Liam about it later, Snow went to the door to get the milk.
Killian's quick movement had jostled Emma awake. She yawned and stretched, then blinked in surprise when she found Killian sitting on her bed.
"Good morning, Emma," Killian greeted her. "How are you this morning?"
"I feel all not right," Emma said, screwing her face up in a confused expression. "Like I'm not all me."
"Maybe it's the magic?" Killian suggested.
"Maybe. I can feel it. Sort of buzzing like bees inside me," Emma said, tilting her head to the side as if the magic could fall out of her ear. "I don't think I like that the magic woke up."
"But you saved me with it. You were amazing!" Killian declared.
"You saved me first. The doggies would have bit me," Emma said. Snow had watched the little exchange, her breath catching at the mention of the danger the two children had faced.
"Good morning, Duckling," Snow said. She kissed both children on the foreheads and handed each a cup of milk.
"Mama, we met the fairies and I did magic and then the doggies turned into puppies . . .um . . ." Emma trailed off and bit her lip; her expression guilty.
Snow saw the moment that Emma remembered Mama wasn't supposed to know about the late night excursion.
"Yes, Duckling, I had to come and get you both. The Blue Fairy told me everything," Snow said, sternly.
"Everything?" Emma asked, and winced when Snow nodded.
"No more leaving the castle after bed time, ever! That is the first rule," Snow said. "That goes for both of you. Killian, I have no doubt it was Emma's idea, so don't even think of trying to take the blame," she added when she correctly summed up the defensive posture the young boy had adopted. "I'm not angry, but I was frightened. You are both too precious to lose. Do you want Mama to be very sad? So sad that she may never smile again?"
Emma's mouth dropped open and she threw herself into her mother's arms.
"I'm sorry. Please don't be sad. I won't sneak out again. I promise. No matter how much I want a baby brother," Emma said in a rush.
Snow looked over Emma's head to Killian who looked a little dumbfounded. "Yes, Killian, you are precious to me. You're older than Emma, I am trusting you to say, 'no', if she forgets and wants to go out at night without an adult. Can you promise me that?"
Killian nodded, unable to speak at being told he was precious to the Queen.
"But I promise I won't forget. I'm not too little to remember," Emma asserted.
"I know you wouldn't forget on purpose, but this way Killian knows, just in case. I know how busy it gets in there," Snow pulled back and tapped a finger to the side of Emma's head. "Now, second rule, and this is just as important as the first, but probably the hardest one. You are not to tell anyone, anyone at all, about your magic. Not Johanna or Mrs. Hodge or anyone. I will tell Papa. I am absolutely serious about this, Emma. Your having magic is a special and wonderful gift and I don't want you to ever feel that there's anything wrong about you having it. But for now we have to keep it a secret. Do you understand?"
Emma bit her lip and her expression clearly read as confusion, but she nodded.
"Killian?" Snow asked.
"Yes, Snow. I won't tell anyone. Not even Liam. I swear," Killian assured her.
"We can tell, Liam, too. I'm sure we can trust him," Snow said, noting how very relieved Killian was as not having to keep a secret from his adored brother. Truthfully, she would have preferred not to tell Liam, but she knew that it would be too much for the young boy to hide such a thing from the one person he trusted above all others. She wouldn't risk putting a wedge between the siblings.
"That means Liam will also know about you sneaking out of the castle," Snow reminded Killian.
"He'll understand. It would have been bad form to let, Her Highness, go out to the woods alone," Killian said, although Snow could see in his expressive eyes a hint of uncertainty about how understanding Liam might actually be.
"Hmm, I guess we'll see about that," Snow said; a small smirk finding its way onto her lips. "Alright you two, drink your milk and get dressed, then we'll go get breakfast."
The two children nodded and scrambled to comply, while Snow begun rehearsing in her head how to break all this news to David. 'A new baby, magic, a soulmate that brought out the magic and a new baby that might also have magic,' Snow thought. Ruling a kingdom suddenly seemed the least of her worries.